You did it... You won. | The Jackal

18 Nov 2011

You did it... You won.


All of your calls.  All of your emails.  Your pledges to swarm the DRBC in Trenton on November 21st. 
All of your pressure and all of your strength.

You stopped fracking in the Delaware River Basin for now.  You won this round.  It is not a complete victory but it is a huge victory.  You brought us back from the brink of total devastation.

What cancellation means: The DRBC doesn’t hold a meeting to vote down their regulations.  I’ve only ever seen them vote to approve things. Which means they would cancel the meeting if they no longer had 3 out of 5 commissioners voting in favor of fracking.  Which is exactly what they have done.  They don't cancel meetings often, let alone votes.


Your voice made a tremendous difference.  I am humbled proud and beyond thankful.

Of course, in my wildest dreams, I would have hoped that the DRBC would outlaw fracking in the River Basin permanently and forever and we could all have an icy Thanksgiving canoeing party down the Delaware next week.  This is not a complete victory by any means.  We still do not know when the DRBC will reschedule their meeting.  Could be ten days, could be a month, could be a year.  So stay tuned and stay ready.  We will let you know. We will have many more battles before we stop fracking completely in the Delaware River Basin and throughout the nation and the world.

But this will still be the best thanksgiving I’ve had in my house for years, and I am incredibly thankful for all of you. You did this.  It was you and the threat of you showing up in massive numbers that did this.

You saved the Delaware, for now.

The Governor of Delaware has said he will vote no on fracking the Delaware.  Read the story here.  But that couldn't have done it all.  Something MUST have happened in New Jersey or with the Obama Administration.  It could have been all of your calls and emails to Joe Biden.  We'll find out more in the coming days.

This was a concerted effort by so many groups, in so many places.  From the local organizations Damascus Citizens for Sustainability, Delaware Riverkeeper, Catskill Mountainkeeper, NYH2O, Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy, Protecting our Waters and others to the Big Greens, EWG, Earth Justice, NRDC, FOod and Water Watch, Sierra Club, to the brilliant and passionate groups working for Climate Justice 350.org, Peaceful Uprising and of course, Tar Sands Action. 

We will continue to fight for the Delaware River.  We will continue to make our voices heard to the Governors of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware and to President Obama and Vice President Biden.

We will have another email in a few hours or tomorrow morning with details and next steps.  We will still hold trainings Nov 20th.  We may refocus the rally on the 21st to keep up the momentum of our campaign.  

We must turn our attention now to the rest of Pennsylvania, and the rest of the nation where fracking is still running rampant and we must make sure we keep up our vigilance and focus.

Please pledge along with me that you will continue to fight, that you will continue to show up to events and that you will continue to follow the next steps of this amazing coalition that has assembled to fight fracking.

We will still be holding our 1st Amendment peaceful action trainings on November 20th.  I am encouraging you to attend.  I will be attending the New York training myself.  We need this training and we will re-focus on a new place, perhaps even on November 21.  Please stay tuned.

But for now, enjoy this.  And this Thanksgiving, be just a bit more thankful for yourself and all the others who have worked so hard in this phase of our campaign to save the Delaware.

All my love and respect.
Josh Fox
and the whole GASLAND team