Tell Premier Holt – New Brunswick Rejects Fracking

Under the guise of the trade war, Premier Holt has recklessly chosen to open New Brunswick’s moratorium on fracking for “review.” The risks to our health and our water are every bit as great as ever – and the benefits to us are even less than they ever were. New Brunswick has rejected this before – we’ll do it again. Let’s start by telling the Premier what we think of this terrible idea.

Send a message to the Premier using our webform or copy-paste the below and send it manually by email (which also allows you to include your MLA).

Email Subject Line Ideas (pick one or modify): 

New Brunswick deserves better than fracking

Bringing fracking to New Brunswick would betray us all

“The fuel of the last century”

We fracking meant it the first time

Emails to send your message to:

Susan Holt, Premier of New Brunswick, premier@gnb.ca

John Dornan, Minister of Health, John.Dornan@gnb.ca

Gilles LePage, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Gilles.LePage@gnb.ca

Keith Chiasson, Minister of Indigenous Affairs, Keith.Chiasson@gnb.ca
John Herron, Minister of Natural Resources, John.Herron@gnb.ca

Find the email of you MLA on the Assembly’s website.

Email Text

Dear Premier Holt, John Dornan (Minister of Health), Gilles LePage (Minister of Environment and Climate Change), Keith Chiasson (Minister of Indigenous Affairs), and John Herron (Minister of Natural Resources),

As your constituent and fellow New Brunswicker, it was with great personal disappointment and political dismay that I read your statement calling for a review of the fracking moratorium.

You had been a sane voice on this issue by continually pointing out that there were good reasons for the moratorium, and that they remained good reasons. Gas was the fuel of the last century, you stated.

You then made a sudden and complete about-face on this issue, while providing the public and your supporters with no reason beyond the meaningless phrase of, “things have changed.” In fact, as you almost certainly know (or should know), the only changes in shale gas extraction during the 10 years of the moratorium make the case against it much stronger.

Many new and serious health problems have been associated with it. Virtually every health and medical institution in the province has informed you of that fact, and formally opposes expanding gas usage.

Fracking now consumes vastly more fresh water than ten years ago, and thus produces vastly more toxic wastewater, for which there is still no safe method of disposal.  Water contamination, air pollution, and the destruction of the environment and road infrastructure caused by the gas industry continue as they did ten years ago.

The greatest technological change the industry has made is in the significant automation of the fracking process that now requires far fewer workers – with a stated goal of nearly complete automation.  This removes one of its few selling points offered to communities to compensate for all the ills it brings.

Perhaps, worst of all, the opening of a new shale industry would be a huge carbon bomb dropped on the global atmosphere.  Atlantic Canada has suffered droughts, forest fires, floods, extreme storms, and new insect-borne diseases, all associated with climate change.  It is only by chance that we have avoided being among the legion of dead, injured and displaced peoples in other parts of the world.

How do we face them and say we are going to add to their suffering, because we need to “balance a budget” as times change?  It is a moral failure and, under new international law, a legal crime to so vastly increase our output of greenhouse gas emissions.

How resurrecting New Brunswick’s most divisive issue can be part of a nation building strategy is a mystery. Please halt this misbegotten and divisive review, and preserve New Brunswick’s quality of life, as well as your integrity. Don’t slow the transition to a cleaner, safer world.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

[Your Postal Code]