Today Denton City Councillor Kevin Roden posted an admirable blog in response to the Denton Chamber of Commerce’s declared opposition to a fracking ban, and the fracking industry’s subsequent use of that declaration in a political mailing (“We need solutions, not political hackery: A response to the Chamber-inspired fracking mailing“).
Admirable, that is, except in one important regard.
Councillor Roden is right that
[T]he Chamber [chose] to submit itself to the desires of out-of-town oil and gas lobbyists. Their apparently unreflected upon position is now being used as a piece of political hackery, resulting in division among their own membership and the citizenry at large.
and also that
[The] Chamber is spending on this effort to defend an industry [fracking] that has virtually no economic impact on our city.
And we applaud him in
[Writing] the Chamber asking that they remove me and my company from their membership roll.
But, he then declares:
[I am] willing to work with anyone on either side of this debate to find meaningful and productive solutions.
We gently remonstrate Councillor Roden on this last point. It sounds like a reasonable position to take because it is — except when considered in the context of Denton’s history with fracking governance.
Councillor Roden knows we — the folks behind the Frack Free Denton fracking ban — only turned to a ban as a last resort. We were willing to “work with anyone” too. To no avail.
We tried participating in City attempts to govern fracking. The Denton Drilling Advisory Group — from which Frack Free Denton was formed — tried to provide advice to the Council on how to improve fracking oversight. The result:
- Ordinances that still allow fracking within 200 feet of homes, and
- Unfilled promises to monitor air pollution from fracking operations.
Honestly, even when the City makes what appears to be a crystal clear declaration, for example “Moratorium on new fracking operations”, it doesn’t turn out to be true either.
This isn’t to blame you personally for the City’s fracking failings, Councillor Roden. You voted to pass the ban when it came before the Council.
But it is to say that, given we can’t count on our City to fulfill its promises to its citizens in the face of pressure from the fracking industry, it’s unreasonable to expect a better result when dealing with the Chamber or directly with the industry itself. The time for negotiation is over.
That is why we think a fracking ban — within Denton city limits where we live and work — is the only solution for our community.
Jan Hammer says: