Great News: as of this weekend, there are now over 1,000 people signed up to be a part of the Don’t Frack Ohio Action in June, and close to 200 of them are students!!
People are joining the action for all kinds of reasons: they’re disgusted at the way our democracy has been sold to the fracking industry, worried about feeding our addiction to fossil fuels on a warming planet, or just plain scared of how fracking will destroy our way of life.
If you haven’t heard yet… it’s about to get HOT in Ohio this summer. Not just the post-finals-week-at-the-beach kinda hot… we’re talking about something even better; the politically-hot-cause-we’re-taking-the-fracking-industry-to-task-and-making-’em-sweat-on-home-turf HOTT. OSEC is kicking off summer vacation by teaming up with 350.org for Don’t Frack Ohio: a long weekend full of movement building strategies, trainings, and especially a big huge action that’s gonna rock Ohio’s statehouse the way earthquakes rocked Youngstown last fall (but better).
You might be asking yourself.. “Ohio? What’s so important about Ohio?” …. Well, Ohio and the Midwest, are Ground Zero for the Climate Fight, and Ohio especially has become the new front-line for the movement to end fracking; in just two years Ohio has gone from 4 permitted horizontally fracked wells to over 85, and the industry doesn’t plan on stopping until it hits a few thousand. Which means OSEC students aren’t planning on stopping anytime soon either; check out what we’ve done since Midwest PowerShift, and join us in Ohio June 14th-17th.
From June 14-16th students, community members, and activists from across Ohio and around the country are converging in Columbus to build a movement through trainings, story telling, and workshops… AND on June 17th WE are taking over the OHIO Statehouse, demanding a BAN on Fracking and ALL injection wells.
Stopping the industry in Ohio has major implications for the entire nation, that is why we are asking YOU to join US in OHIO! We will also be joined by inspiring leaders, like Bill McKibben & Josh Fox.
In the early morning hours on Thursday morning, students at Ohio State University gathered outside the south edge of campus. The Board of Trustees were arriving for a meeting, and as they trickled in, students peacefully and silently held up signs asking for one thing: Don’t Frack With OSU. The protest attracted the attention of the local television news and the Lantern (the OSU newspaper), taking place as the Board members arrived for breakfast and then for lunch.
Students across the state of Ohio are speaking out against dirty polluters and calling for 100% clean energy. In doing so, FIVE campuses participated in a coordinated Day of Action: The University of Cincinnati, College of Wooster, The Ohio State University, Capital University, and Miami University. Each campus played a different roll and has a different ask for making their individual transitions to 100% clean energy. However, the significance for coordinated day of action is clear: We must protect the public health of individuals in our state and nation, by leading the charge against corporate polluters, and transitioning to a sustainable energy solution.
The University of Cincinnati's Beyond Coal campaign held an event with their Student Senate demonstrating the solidarity on their campus for quitting coal. Dozens of students at the College of Wooster walked around with face masks on reading “We NEED 100% Clean” and petitioning to generate awareness and kick-off their beyond coal campaign. Students at The Ohio State University had an opportunity to confront the natural gas industry concerning the truth of fracking during a propaganda panel. Support actions at Miami University and Capital University utilized mini wind turbines to demonstrate regional statistics related to the negative health impacts of dirty energy. i.e. Capital University used 73 wind turbines to demonstrate the amount of deaths each year in Columbus as a direct result of coal fired energy plants
Ohio’s need for clean air is a major priority. Multiple cities in this midwestern state have some of the worst air quality in the country.Therefore, in the early spring when the Clean Air Act and funding for the EPA were on the “chopping block” Ohioans took notice. Thousands of petitions were signed and a handful of visibility events were held statewide focusing on Senator Brown to vote in favor of environmental protection. When he did not the youth climate movement made sure their voices were heard by continuing accountability over the summer.
Over the last year, gas industries across Ohio haven't just been targeting land owners and communities: they've also been sneaking onto our campuses and hosting panels, info sessions and networking events that promote shale development jobs. These events are an opportunity for the industry to spread biased and unbalanced information on horizontal hydraulic-fracturing: a dangerous and unconventional new drilling technique that is threatening communities across the country.
