When asked in a recent press conference about the potential risks of fracking, Mexican President-Elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that under his government the nonconventional extraction method would no longer be used. This is a major step forward in the fight to end fracking in North America. Although other jurisdictions have moved to ban fracking, Mexico would be the largest area in North America to ban the practice.
According to the website truthout.org, López Obrador’s announcement “gives people a certain sense of hope, however, it is not enough to let our guard down,” said Rogel Del Rosal Valladares, an adviser with the coordinator of Campesino and Indigenous Organizations of the Huasteca Potosina.
In Canada, fracking for unconventional gas is rapidly expanding in almost every province. The Council of Canadians opposes fracking because of its high water use, its high carbon emissions, its impacts on human health, the disruption it causes to wildlife, and the danger it poses to groundwater and local drinking water. We are calling for a country-wide halt on fracking operations, and work with people in communities across Canada who are saying “No fracking way!”
Learn more about what you can do to stop fracking. If you haven’t already, add your name to the Council of Canadians’ “Ban Fracking Now!” petition.