Greetings,
I want to thank everyone who helped make yesterday's Binghamton rally a tremendous success. I guarantee Andrew Cuomo will be looking out for no-fracking-way activists the rest of his gubernatorial campaign. We totally hijacked his press coverage.
About 50 people showed up with less than four hours notice. They came from miles around and brought friends, spouses, a model gas drilling derrick, a water roulette wheel, their children and a terrific array of signs. That is what I call fast grassroots organizing.
People crashed Cuomo's news conference in a very respectful way and spoke to him. Most importantly, they got their picture in the paper.
A wonderful article ran on the front-page of the Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin as well as in the Elmira and Ithaca on-line papers. See below.
Our TV coverage was equally impressive. Check out the first video below. It starts out with the State Senate passing a drilling moratorium, addresses the woeful inadequacies of DEC's draft regulatory proposal and finishes up with coverage of more than 1,400 Marcellus Shale drilling violations in nearby Pennsylvania. What a trifecta.
The rally was also covered in a second piece that addressed Marcellus Shale as an election issue.
See rally photos: http://www.toxicstargeting.com/MarcellusShale/rally-photos/binghamton
I especially want to thank: NYRAD (New York Residents Against Drilling), particularly Karen Glauber for her super organizing and press outreach; Lisa Wright and her Shaleshock colleagues as well as her son, James Mathews, who entertained the crowd with his gymnastic feats; Elaine and Ben Perkus, who first gave me a heads up about the AG coming to Bingo, her family and her seven-year-old daughter, Eyana Rose, who spoke so touchingly to the crowd; Ken Zeserson for his sound system; David Kauber for his traveling derrick; and all the photographers.
Most importantly, I want to thank everyone who dropped everything and made it to the event. You demonstrated to Andrew Cuomo that your communities are worth fighting for.
In closing, we have a lot of hard work to do to change his favorable view of Marcellus Shale gas. Yesterday was only the beginning, but it was a really excellent one.
As you will see, my last quote in the article is:
Hang said his team of protesters will be keeping a close eye on Cuomo.
"We're going to bird-dog this candidate in every community where he shows his face," Hang said. "We're going to write him very respectfully, because the (Attorney General's Office) has a long history of protecting the citizens from drilling problems."
Your help will be needed between now and election day. Much more on that very shortly.
Onward and upward.
Walter
