On March 19, 2023, we gathered in Denver for a few hours of education, community connections, and climate action.
During the evening, we had a chance to hear from some incredible speakers
Patricia Garcia Nelson, Kevin Chan, and Irma Diaz shared their experiences of being personally impacted by rampant fracking and pollution in Colorado.
Patricia shared about the fracking site that was built next to her son’s school in a blatant act of environmental racism. Additionally, she called out the fact that all of us have a role to play in the fight for climate justice. Each of us should utilize our privilege to take action, including meeting with legislators and advocating for the movement. The time is now!
Next, Kevin talked about Save the Aurora Reservoir and his experience being affected by and fighting against fracking in his community.
Irma shared that we should focus on the fact that the Colorado River is drying up! Multiple states depend on the river, and everyone needs water to live. Everyone should care because we all have family and friends that are affected by this. What kind of water are we going to have in 20-50 years?
“We don’t need more fracking. We don’t need more oil companies,” she said.
And she’s right.
Together, we took action at nine different action stations
One of the main points of having this party was to work together and take action to spread the word about the necessity of phasing out new oil & gas permits in Colorado.
We aim to begin to make a tangible shift in changing the narrative (shaped by fossil fuel propaganda) that Colorado’s economy and workforce rely on the oil & gas industry.
We’ve written about the revealing stats from the CFI report before. They show that it only benefits us to move away from fossil fuels – and quickly. These are a few of them:
- Only 0.7% of jobs in Colorado are dependent on the oil & gas industry
- Tax revenue generated by oil & gas in Colorado does not come anywhere near paying for the damage it causes and the emissions it generates
- Oil & gas only represents 3.3% of the state’s GDP
Many of us agree that the health and environmental impacts of the oil & gas industry are much more concerning than the economic ones. But many who advocate for fossil fuels do so because of the idea that our economy depends on oil & gas when in fact, it does not. That’s why this economic data about oil & gas in Colorado is so critical to changing the conversation.
There’s no excuse to keep us dependent on this extractive industry. There’s no reason for oil & gas CEOs to continue profiting off destroying our beautiful state and harming our friends and neighbors.
View this post on Instagram
A great first step is to communicate with decision-makers in Colorado and share the findings from the CFI report with friends, family, and neighbors.
Didn’t get a chance to attend the event?
Here are some links to take action digitally:
- Share social media posts
- Send a newstip (or a few of them) asking the media to cover the CFI report
- Sign a support letter for the concept of phasing out new permits for oil and gas by 2030 with a just transition
- Make a short video of yourself and share it with us to use, or post it yourself with #NoNewFracking
- Send the CFI report to your legislators. Also, send the report to your city council member and ask them to sign the support letter
- Support legislation
- Practice introducing our talking points and data in conversation (Here’s an infographic with some data that is easy to talk about.)
- Story Map on fossil fuel extraction, power plants, refineries, and health impacts
- Contribute to coalition advertising on this data and the concept of phasing out new permits
If you’re reading this, thank you!
Your involvement in this cause is vital. We’re honored to have you as a part of our community. We look forward to continuing important environmental justice work together in the future.
Follow us on Instagram or sign up for our newsletter to stay informed. We’ll let you know about upcoming events and actions you can take as an advocate for climate justice.