Think Responsibly

Oh, the irony!

The opposition to the ban describes their message as responsible. The root of the term is to respond or to be accountable. Yet it is precisely the industry’s failure to respond to our community’s concerns and their refusal to be held accountable to our rules that has brought us to this point.

They’ve really taken irony to new heights with their latest flyer and advertisement. Yes, they care so much about our local economy that they are going to sue us for millions. Of course, they know darn well there is no possible scenario where Denton loses millions (read on).

They act un-neighborly by ignoring our ordinance and fracking right next to our homes, schools, and parks. Then they threaten us with lawsuits…. And now they want to talk about responsibility?! Never has the word “responsible” been used so irresponsibly:

• They call for “responsible drilling,” when the ban only applies to fracking. The word ‘drilling’ is not even in the ballot language.

• They offer a false choice, as if we just need better regulations. What they don’t say is that we actually have responsible regulations in our 60-page ordinance (sub-chapter 22). But our rules do not apply, because everything you see on the map below is vested under older rules. Operators have already gone ahead with fracking 200 feet from homes despite our rules that require a 1,200 foot buffer. That is going to happen again and again. Our choice is either mass neighborhood industrialization or the ban. You pick the responsible option.

• They accuse the leaders of Frack Free Denton of being outsiders – even suggesting that we have “direct ties” to Russia. Of course, we are the ones who spent years at City Hall helping to write our rules that are now being systematically ignored by the industry. Meanwhile, the opposition won’t even send a local board member to debate us. And the only time they ever showed up at City Hall was to drop off a bogus, deceptive petition they paid an out-of-state company to run.

• They commission an economic report about the costs of the fracking ban from a company that uses a proprietary methodology and that has a track record of exaggeration. Then they parade these hyperbolic numbers around in deceptive mailers and advertizements. They even wrap themselves in the credibility of our Chamber of Commerce when no local businesses were asked their opinion on the matter. Then, to heap hyperbole atop itself, they even misquote their own report. When we point out that THEIR OWN NUMBERS show fracking is 0.2% of Denton’s economy and 4x LESS economically productive than other land uses, their response is a telling silence. Here is UNT Prof. Matt Fry dispelling the myth of the local fracking boom:

• They have the nerve to suggest that fracking next to our playgrounds, schools, and homes is somehow good for Denton’s children. They use a stock photo to try to dupe us into this unholy twist on ‘responsible.’ Fracking exposes our kids to toxins and reduces our tax revenues. Yeah, that’s the responsible choice.

• Having lost the economic argument, they now turn to threats of lawsuits. Their latest ad claims defending the ban in court will be a ‘waste’ of city tax dollars. Since when is standing up for our health and safety a waste? Is it a waste to protect our children and our homes? Responsible people know that some things are worth fighting for.

• That same ad claims the ban will cost ‘millions’ in lawsuits. This is baseless fear mongering. The Town of Dryden, NY successfully defended their fracking ban for $38,000. Three cities in Colorado with fracking bans collectively spent about $109,000. Notably, defending their bans cost half as much as writing ordinances to regulate fracking. So, the opposition is telling us to spend twice as much money on pointless rules that won’t apply to anything. Now, that seems like the real ‘waste’ here. Further, Denton’s City Attorney has said we have a “substantial resource” of available funds to defend the ban – indeed we have on hand easily 40x the resources it cost these other cities to defend their bans.

• They keep making confident assertions that the ban is an illegal takings. But the fact is that there is no case law in Texas for this. We will be in uncharted territory. Nonetheless, a very strong case has been made that the ban is perfectly legal and defensible in large part because it does not prohibit drilling and there are 18,000 conventional wells in our area that do not require fracking to produce gas. Even in the unlikely event the ban is overturned, the city won’t owe millions to anyone. The gas will still be in the ground – no one is taking it in the way someone takes property when they pave it over with a highway.

The opposition is running a classic “ELF” campaign – exaggeration, lies, and fear.

Too bad for them that Denton voters are too smart for that.

Please, think responsibly. Then Vote FOR the Ban.