Greetings,
I write today to ask you to donate generously to support Toxics Targeting's nationally recognized campaign to keep New York 100% free of shale fracking and fossil fuel pipeline hazards. We are on an incredible roll, but we face a huge uphill battle with crucial deadlines looming.
I am pleased to report that our campaign just received major coast-to-coast coverage on CNBC as well as statewide attention via Politico New York, Capitol Pressroom and The Syracuse Post Standard.
Many thanks to everyone who has helped support our efforts, notably our amazing Contributors. Without your help, our work would have neither been possible nor so successful. Please accept my deepest gratitude on behalf of all those you safeguarded from fracking.
Our new pipeline campaign was born due to one family's dedication to environmental protection in honor of their son. My colleagues and I have worked with extra dedication to make it a success. Please help Toxics Targeting sustain and expand our efforts on behalf of all New Yorkers in the days ahead.
What Our New Pipeline Campaign Has Already Accomplished
In just four months, our new pipeline campaign replicated the closely coordinated efforts that were instrumental in prohibiting hydrofracking in New York, including unprecedented data research, sophisticated policy advocacy, coalition building, voter education and extensive media outreach.
Toxics Targeting initially documented pipeline explosions, fires and toxic releases from one end of New York to the other. After Governor Cuomo received thousands of our calls and emails, he is facing intense pressure to kill the Constitution Pipeline before the 4/29/16 deadline by DENYING the Section 401 Water Quality Certification required for its construction.
We are now organizing Fractivists to pressure presidential candidates to pledge before the looming 4/19/16 New York Primary to oppose the Constitution Pipeline and end New York's addiction to fossil fuels.
As recently reported by The New York Times, Governor Cuomo only decided to prohibit hydrofracking after Fractivists helped Zephyr Teachout cut his reelection plurality by ONE MILLION VOTES. See Fractivists.
Why Does Toxics Targeting Warrant Your Support?
When Toxics Targeting launched its campaign to keep New York safe from shale fracking in November 2009, the end of the Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement proceeding was a mere six weeks away. Virtually everyone thought fracking was a "done deal" in New York.
Big Green groups declared that our strategy to "withdraw" the draft SGEIS had a "snowball's chance in hell" of succeeding, but our steadfast plan of action is ultimately why not one shale gas production well has ever been fracked in our state.
Toxics Targeting is unlike any public interest, environmental or grassroots group. Our team of professional data managers and Geographic Information System analysts produce bullet-proof research findings. Our tireless staff also generate press coverage and assist citizens and organizations all over the state.
I have 40 years of public interest advocacy experience. I know my way through the labyrinth of the State Capitol, government agencies and the media world. My colleagues and I work 24/7 to execute a plan of focused action involving anyone who wants to participate. That is why our campaign packs such a powerful punch.
Toxics Targeting is not a membership organization. Your contributions only support our campaign, which runs on a shoestring budget. We have no development staff, glossy magazines, gala award dinners or door-to-door canvassers. We utterly depend on the kindness of those who appreciate that our campaign is uniquely effective.
With the help of thousands of grassroots Fractivists, our drive to keep New York free of fracking and pipeline hazards has been stunningly successful. Please help Toxics Targeting continue to protect our state from fossil fuel pollution threats that loom larger than ever.
What Our Campaign Aims to Achieve
1. Toxics Targeting is working night and day to kill the Constitution Pipeline as well as all other pipelines, compressors, power plants and infrastructure projects that would perpetuate New York's addiction to fossil fuels;
2. Toxics Targeting is focused on preventing "gelled" propane fracking that could be permitted any day in Barton, NY. Two fracking applications are pending;
3. New York's hydrofracking prohibition has essentially been extended into Northeastern Pennsylvania because there is inadequate pipeline capacity to transport fracked gas from that area to large regional markets. If new pipelines are built, fracking would boom again; and
4. Cheap natural gas is cannibalizing all other energy production alternatives in New York, including renewables. Our state is on the verge of building massive energy infrastructure that would perpetuate consumption of fossil fuels for decades to come.
Activists have long advocated replacing oil, coal and natural gas energy sources with solar, wind and other renewable alternatives, but that strategy simply has not worked. Sustainable energy remains pathetically meager because it cannot compete against oil and gas production that skyrocketed due to fracking.
As illustrated here and below, 80% of New York's electricity is currently generated from non-renewable sources, including 56% from natural gas or natural gas with oil back-up. In comparison, New York's total wind and solar production is a meager five percent.
Our campaign's most innovative and ambitious goal is to strangle New York's consumption of coal, oil and natural gas by blocking new infrastructure projects and curtailing energy demand on an unprecedented scale by maximizing energy efficiency. No other group has ever tried to achieve that. We are the first.
If the Constitution Pipeline is killed, it would set a crucial precedent that could help kill the NED (Northeast Energy Direct) and New Market pipeline projects. The implications of that scenario would be truly epic.
Instead of endlessly talking about the horrors of climate change and fossil fuels, New York must stop using coal, oil and gas as Governor Cuomo proposed:
"The least expensive and most effective way to meet our state energy goals is simply to reduce the overall energy consumption of New York's homes, businesses, and institutions by making them more efficient. Increasing energy efficiency also lowers utility bills for customers and enables businesses to reduce their operating costs."
Contribute Today to Toxics Targeting
With those clear-cut goals in mind, please donate generously today and consider making a recurring monthly contribution via Paypal. Thanks, again, to all our amazing Contributors.
Donations of $1,000.00 or more are tax-exempt, but any amount is greatly appreciated. Fairy Godmothers and Godfathers, please get in touch. As New York's hydrofracking prohibition proved, your major gifts can change the course of environmental history.
I would be pleased to discuss the matter in person or call me at 800 286 9427. Please make referrals to philanthropists.
Conclusion
Toxics Targeting's Marcellus Shale Campaign only got underway after I fortuitously met two energy activist farmers with kind friends.
One especially stalwart supporter has kept our campaign going through thick and thin despite vicious personal attacks from pro-frackers. That requires serious courage.
Without the help of all our tremendous supporters and the two best friends in the world, New York almost certainly would have been fracked like states from coast to coast and border to border. Thank you all so much.
My colleagues and I stand ready to do more good work on your behalf as well as all those you wish to honor or protect.
Please get in touch if you would like to learn how Toxics Targeting can make powerful things happen in the public interest.
Thank you for your consideration.
Very best regards,
Walter
NYS Power Production and Primary Energy Consumption Charts
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