You Don’t Want To Sit This One Out: Help Us Fight the Dallas Gas Wars
Here's how to help us build the best gas drilling ordinance in the Barnett Shale by the end of the month in three easy steps.
1) TOMORROW – BUTTS IN SEATS FOR THE BEST ORDINANCE IN THE SHALE
Attend the public hearing tomorrow, THIS THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12th at 1:30 pm on a new Dallas gas-drilling ordinance sponsored by the Dallas Plan Commission and speak-up for the most protective rules. We really need citizens there to counter new industry-organized opposition.
We won the Trinity East votes. But that was a fight that protected us from past mistakes and deals.
Now, it's about getting ahead of the curve and building a citizen-friendly ordinance to determine how or if gas drilling can take place in Dallas in the future.
And the agenda for this Thursday has some of the most critical items on it in need of better regulations – "Air Quality," "Water Quality," "Compressor Stations," and "Pipelines" – so public participation is important.
Please click here for talking points you can use at this Thursday's hearing, including information about precedent-setting measures like Mandatory electrification, air pollution off-sets required, no flood plain drilling, and a ban on compressor station.
Help bring this thing home. Be there Thursday.
2) SEPTEMBER 19th – MONEY FOR THE FIGHT
The single most effective thing Downwinders does is put staff in the field to assist citizens.
Help us do that very thing for the month of September with an easy e-donation next Thursday, September 19th, during the local Communities Foundation's annual North Texas Giving Day.
On Giving Day, every donation you give to Downwinders of $25 or more will be multiplied if you donate to us through the internet at www.DonorBridgeTX.org. Plus, organizations are eligible to receive a portion of $1.5 million in "bonus funds" — making every dollar you give go even further than usual.
Simply visit the site anytime between 7 a.m. and midnight next Thursday, the 19th, search for Downwinders at Risk Education Fund by name on the list (there are hundreds of groups) and click "Donate Now."
Our goal for this year's Giving Day is to raise the $2500 we need to pay our organizer's September salary.
Jim Schermbeck is the only full-time clean air staff person in DFW and he's working overtime in September to make sure we get a truly protective gas drilling ordinance presented to the Dallas City Council.
Jim doesn't get paid with a check from a headquarters in Austin or DC. He gets paid by you – the people who live in North Texas for whom we work.
Help us keep having a big impact. Give generously next Thursday, September 19th. Don't worry, you'll be getting a reminder…or two.
3) SEPTEMBER 26th: BUTTS IN SEATS TO SEND THE BEST ORDINANCE IN THE SHALE TO THE DALLAS CITY COUNCIL
Attend the very last Plan Commission public hearing on a new Dallas gas drilling ordinance, Thursday, September 26th at 1:30 pm at City Hall. This will be the citizen send-off to the City Council for what we hope will be a new model for communities throughout DFW, the Barnett Shale, and beyond.
We need to get the very best ordinance we can out of the Plan Commission in order to keep it from being watered down by members of the City Council.
Remember, when we upheld the Trinity East permit denial, WE ACTUALLY LOST THE TRINITY EAST VOTE 6 to 9.
We still don't have 8 votes or more on the record for a progressive stance on gas drilling.
It'll be much harder for hostile council members to weaken the proposed ordinance if they have to oppose the original Plan Commission recommendations that have gone through this hearing process. Momentum will be with us if we leave the Commission with the Gold Standard of Gas Ordinances.
Three years ago, Downwinders looked around the Barnett Shale and decided we needed to do something about the air pollution caused by our region becoming the Appalachia of gas drilling. We picked the Dallas Gas Wars as our place to make a stand. We knew that if we were patient and focused, we could succeed in making substantial progress.
We're on the very verge of that happening. Please stick with us a little longer and see this thing through to the end. It's going to be worth it. Thanks for your support.