by Ken Baer
At the recent annual meeting of the Council of Club Leaders in San Francisco, the Atlantic Chapter made some headway in its effort to change the Sierra Club’s policy regarding fracking and natural gas.
The council, which consists of delegates from each of the Club’s 63 chapters, advises the Board of Directors on internal Club matters. The delegates convene every year in conjunction with a board meeting. Typically these resolutions are referred to working groups and task forces.
Fracking and club policy
As the Atlantic Chapter has mounted a campaign against fracking, we have discovered that National has taken a very curious, if not confounding, position on fracking. Currently Club policy:
• opposes any projects using fracking fluids that pose unacceptable toxic risks,
• opposes any projects that do not properly treat, manage, and account for fracking fluids and produced water,
• opposes permits unless it can be demonstrated that drinking water aquifers and surface waters are adequately protected from contamination,
• opposes fracking projects that would endanger water supplies or critical watersheds or imperil human health,
• supports best management practices being incorporated into regulatory requirements as they are developed, and •encourages chapters to press for effective regulatory frameworks.
Chapters are only allowed to oppose fracking on a project by project basis, and not statewide (in New York the gas industry wants to drill 80,000 wells).
Inconsistent policy
What is most troubling about the Club’s fracking policy is that it ignores “the precautionary principle,” which is one of the environmental justice principles within our conservation policies. It states, “When an activity potentially threatens human health or the environment, the proponent of the activity, rather than the public, should bear the burden of proof as to the harmlessness of the activity. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent environmental degradation.”
The Atlantic Chapter has found the Club’s fracking policy, which was adopted in 2009, to be completely inadequate. In an effort to change policy, a resolution was introduced to the CCL in September, 2010, that recommended that the Club totally oppose hydraulic fracturing. Unfortunately, the delegates were not entirely educated on fracking, and the resolution failed.
In the year between the 2010 and 2011 meetings there was a significant leap in knowledge and awareness among delegates. Michael Brune made an appearance on 60 Minutes to discuss fracking, and the Club encouraged members to host house parties where the Oscar-nominated documentary, Gasland, was shown. These actions gave the appearance that the Club opposed fracking.
At the September, 2011, CCL meeting, the Atlantic Chapter introduced a resolution that would allow chapters to advocate for a ban within their jurisdictions. The result was a vote of 34-20 in favor of recommending this policy to the Board. The BOD promptly referred the resolution to the Natural Gas Reform Campaign Team.
Although many Chapter “frackivists” are disappointed by National’s pace in changing Club policy, and forbidding us from advocating for an outright ban, the Chapter is one of the leading and most effective critics of fracking in the state. The Chapter is focused on promoting renewables, efficiency and conservation to meet our energy needs, and our top priority is to protect the state from hydraulic fracturing.
To become more involved in the fight against fracking, e-mail Atlantic.Chapter@sierraclub.org.
Other actions
Other resolutions that passed called for the following:
• an increase in external funding for population work,
• an increase in external funding for an Anti-Nuclear Outreach Campaign,
•a change in the wording of the Zero Waste Policy to allow for a campaign against phone book distribution,
• an increase in funding for the Natural Gas Reform Campaign Team’s work on fracking, and
• review of the Club’s prohibition on civil disobedience to allow its measured use.
Ken Baer, a member of the New York City Group, is the Chapter delegate to the Council of Club Leaders.