The anti-fracking movement is a

political movement A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some t ...

that seeks to ban the practice of extracting natural gasses from shale rock formations to provide power due to its negative environmental impact. These effects include the contamination of drinking water, disruption of ecosystems, and adverse effects on human and animal health. Additionally, the practice of

fracking Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, fracing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of formations in bedrock by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure inje ...

increases the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, escalating the process of

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

and global warming. An anti-fracking movement has emerged both internationally, with involvement of international

environmental organization An environmental organization is an organization coming out of the conservation or environmental movements that seeks to protect, analyse or monitor the environment against misuse or degradation from human forces. In this sense the environme ...

s, and nation states such as

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and locally in affected areas such as Balcombe,

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, in the UK. Pungești in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Žygaičiai Žygaičiai is a small town in Tauragė County, in western Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Balti ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, and

In Salah Ain Salah, officially Aïn Salah (), is an oasis town in central Algeria and the capital of In Salah Province and In Salah District. It was once an important trade link in the trans-Saharan caravan route. As of the 2008 census, it had a popula ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

. Through the use of direct action, media, and lobbying, the anti-fracking movement is focused on holding the gas and oil industry accountable for past and potential environmental damage, extracting compensation from and taxation of the industry to mitigate impact, and regulation of gas development and drilling activity.

Europe

UK

The Frack Off campaign is a

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...

direct action against

unconventional gas Unconventional (oil and gas) reservoirs, or unconventional resources (resource plays) are accumulations where oil and gas phases are tightly bound to the rock fabric by strong capillary forces, requiring specialized measures for evaluation and ...

and

oil extraction Petroleum is a fossil fuel that can be drawn from beneath the Earth's surface. Reservoirs of petroleum are formed through the mixture of plants, algae, and sediments in shallow seas under high pressure. Petroleum is mostly recovered from oil ...

. On 26 September 2018, four men blocked a convoy of trucks carrying drilling equipment to a site on Preston New Road near

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

. They were arrested, convicted of causing a

public nuisance In English criminal law, public nuisance is an act, condition or thing that is illegal because it interferes with the rights of the general public. In Australia In ''Kent v Johnson'', the Supreme Court of the ACT held that public nuisance is ...

, and given custodial sentences; two for 16 months, one for 15 months, and one 12 months suspended. One of the men's lawyers said they were the first

environmental activists The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement) is a social movement that aims to protect the natural world from harmful environmental practices in order to create sustainable living. In its recognition of humanity a ...

to be imprisoned in the UK since the

Mass trespass of Kinder Scout The mass trespass of Kinder Scout was a trespass protest at Kinder Scout in the Peak District, Derbyshire, England, on 24 April 1932. The protest sought to highlight that walkers were denied access to areas of open countryside which had been fenc ...

in 1932. Following an

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which Legal case, cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of cla ...

the sentences were overturned at the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

and the imprisoned men were released.

North America

Environmental concerns about

began to take hold in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

when

Josh Fox Josh Fox is an American film Film director, director, playwright, hippy, and environmental activist, best known for his Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, Oscar-nominated, Emmy-winning 2010 documentary, ''Gasland''. He is the founder a ...

released ''

Gasland ''Gasland'' is a 2010 American documentary film written and directed by Josh Fox. It focuses on communities in the United States where natural gas drilling activity was a concern and, specifically, on hydraulic fracturing ("fracking"), a method ...

'' in 2010, a

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

on the social and environmental impacts of fracking. ''Gasland'', depicting the effect of hydraulic fracking on American homeowners near these sites, sparked an increased interest in the anti-fracking movement through the news coverage, social media content, and environmental activism that followed the film’s release. In 2011, the town of

Dryden, New York Dryden is a town in Tompkins County, New York, United States. The population was 14,435 at the 2010 census. The town administers an area that includes two villages, one also named Dryden and one named Freeville, as well as a number of hamlets ...

became one of the first communities in the state to ban fracking in their community. This ban was initiated by grass roots activists of the Dryden Resource Awareness Coalition who began collecting signatures for a ballot measure in 2010. By 2014, 400 communities across the country had taken similar actions in their own towns. Notably, in 2014, New York City’s anti-fracking movement won a significant victory, managing to get Governor Cuomo to ban fracking in the state. This victory is due to the large number of environmental groups present and active in New York. In 2020, the New York state legislature codified a ban on fracking permanently into its 2021 budget, constituting a more substantial commitment to end fracking than the executive action taken by Governor Cuomo in 2014. This ban is due to years of grassroots organizing across the state of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

in which activists obtained tens of thousands of petition signatures and convinced 200 municipalities to pioneer their own anti-fracking initiatives. Celebrity support has also been a notable part of the Anti-Fracking Movement. Actor

Mark Ruffalo Mark Alan Ruffalo (; born November 22, 1967) is an American actor. He began acting in the late 1980s and first gained recognition for his work in Kenneth Lonergan's play ''This Is Our Youth'' (1996) and drama film ''You Can Count on Me'' (2000) ...

, who lives in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, became a major opponent to fracking. Ruffalo laid out his full case against fracking in a piece co-authored with

Phil Radford Philip David Radford (born January 2, 1976) is an American consumer and conservation leader, currently serving as the President and CEO of Consumer Reports, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that works with consumers to foster truth, transpare ...

on CNN.com, where he argued

solar Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...

and

wind Wind is the natural movement of atmosphere of Earth, air or other gases relative to a planetary surface, planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heatin ...

sources of power are available now, and using fracked

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

instead of cleaner sources of energy will result in more faucets on fire, methane leaks that cause

global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

, groundwater contamination, and

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

causing chemicals in communities. In New York, more than 180 entertainment, music, film artists (including

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...

Robert de Niro Robert Anthony De Niro ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor, director, and film producer. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of List of awards and ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

, and

Susan Sarandon Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actor. With a career spanning over five decades, she is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to ...

) are recognized as members of Artists Against Fracking, a group that opposes fracking in the

Marcellus shale Marcellus may refer to: People * Marcellus (name) * Marcellus of Ancyra, fourth-century Christian bishop and theologian * Marcus Claudius Marcellus, Roman commander * Marcellus of Tangier * Marcellus Empiricus * Marcellus (nephew of Augustu ...

In film

*''Split Estate'' (2009) *''

'' (2010) *'' Gasland: Part II'' (2013) *'' The Sky Is Pink'' (2013) *''Groundswell Rising'' (2014) *'' Frack Off'' (UK) *''

Frackman ''Frackman'' is a 2015 Australian documentary film about the former construction worker turned anti-fracking movement, anti-fracking activist Dayne Pratzky as he responds to the expansion of the coal seam gas industry near Tara, Queensland. The ...

'' (Australia, 2015) *''BoJack Horseman'', Season 4 (2017) *'' Water Is Life'' (Australia, 2018)

Notes and references

{{Portal bar, Society, Environment, Energy, Global warming Environmentalism Fossil fuels

Europe

UK

North America

In film

See also

Notes and references