Water is our most Precious Resource

Thursday, September 9, 2010

The Momentum!

I was away for a while, playing a jazz festival in the land of Sardinia, which is smack in the middle of the Mediterranean. Truly a land of sun, wind, currents etc.... and yet there is very little sustainable energy production! The locals tell me that it costs too much money to install the infrastructure, and people are poor, and Sardinia is the "forgotten land" of Italy. And yet, there's a huge NATO base on the island where they drop who-knows-what-kinds of bombs all the time - wouldn't it make sense for NATO to pay for a renewable energy system in Sardinia in exchange for the loss in quality of life?

The other night, the last night before the first school night, there was an outdoor screening of Josh Fox's GASLAND Movie. I had the opportunity to meet Josh, and gave him one of my Demand It tee shirts. The movie is opening national on the 15th, and he's very excited!

Before the movie began, Maurice Hinchey spoke, and is doing amazing things on the federal level in regards to the Frack Act.

The turnout was excellent! And there was kettle corn and cotton candy for the kids, plus an excellent playground.... Although my attention was scattered by my son's exuberance (he was screaming "No Hydrofracking! No Hydrofracking" while ensconced at the top of the "Eiffel Tower" climby thingy), there were several speakers, not all of whom I was able to identify. I know that Janet Burgan sang a bunch of songs including a new one, "No Hydrofracking Way". And, there was a performance ensemble which represented the Industry and their Frackers. I'm sure that Mark Ruffalo spoke, and perhaps Wes Gillingham from Catskill Mountainkeeper.

 This was the 2nd time I saw the movie, and I found myself calling my son so he could see the scenes where they light the tap water on fire....

Biggest call to action right now: Call your state and federal reps to demand that drilling be stopped. Call the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) too. There's a September 15th deadline to extend an existing Moratorium on Drilling in the Delaware. CALL YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES AND DEMAND A MORATORIUM ON HYDROFRACKING!!!
NY - PA - NJ - WV

The New York EPA hearings are rescheduled at the Broome County Forum Theater in Binghampton, on Sept. 13th and 15th, 2010.  It's looking to be a huge day of activism - I'm scheduled to speak on the 13th and will be there with trumpet and video camera!!! Come out if you can!

One thing I keep hearing from people on the street, and through my YouTube channel, is desperation. People are feeling inadequate, or overwhelmed when presented with this issue. That's how I felt at first, too.... but then I saw people taking a huge, active part in halting the machine, I jumped right in - there is no "alone" in this fight; just give what you can, and make some fabulous friends in the process!

I'm living in NYC part time so I'm getting involved on both ends of the spectrum now. The first thing I realized is that hydrofracking is not the only potential problem with NYC's water supply! There are definitely OTHER issues.....

Gotta run!

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