April 10, 2013
Your neighbors are under pressure. The rush to start hydraulic fracking in North Carolina is pushing toward rural communities.
Last week, Debbie Hall swept her back porch in northern Lee County, scouting the nooks and crannies among the lush brush and trees out back. Just like she does every spring, Debbie was preparing to host the annual Cumnock community Easter egg hunt right in her backyard.
“This is a tradition here,” she says. “Most of my neighbors are my relatives, and we’ve inherited all of this land. I can’t imagine having this hunt in the years to come in my beautiful backyard and to see a fracking pad over the hedge. That’s incomprehensible.”
Can you make a donation to RAFI’s Landowner Rights and Fracking project, to preserve the rights of Debbie’s family and others?
Debbie lives on property she and her family have owned for nearly 100 years. She does not, however, own her mineral rights. She should have the right to determine whether or not drilling happens on her land. But under current law, Debbie and many other landowners do not.
“RAFI gives us the right information,” Debbie says. The only protections between their homes and the impacts of gas extraction will be the regulations that we put in place right now.
A few weeks ago, your emails and phone calls helped slow down the rush to pass SB 76, which would establish a date to issue fracking permits in 2015 regardless of whether or not strong landowner protections are in place for families.
But there are still too few of us, and the stakes are too high. More than 2,000 families in Chatham, Lee and Moore counties live on land that’s expected to be targeted for drilling.
Policies up for debate now will determine the balance between the rights of citizens and the profits of gas companies for decades to come. Should gas companies be allowed to drill beside a school? A church? A home? Who gets to decide?
Your donation puts the power back into the hands of landowners and local communities. Demand that people come before gas company profits. Send a message through our online form.
For more details about policies and our campaign, visit our Landowner Rights & Fracking portal.
You have our sincerest thanks and gratitude for the support you have already given to protect North Carolina’s landowners, land, water, and air.
Thank you again,
Scott Marlow
Executive Director
P.S. We only win if our numbers grow. Please share this with your friends and neighbors.
Prefer to send a donation in the mail? Mail your gift to RAFI-USA, PO Box 640, Pittsboro, NC 27312.