Albany Day of Action: Rally Speakers and Bread Action

Video by Cris McConkey | Video Downloads | iTunes

600+ New Yorkers Rally in State Capitol to Voice Concerns about Fracking

Toxic Chemical Exposure & Hazardous Waste Top List of Groups’ Fracking-Related Concerns

(ALBANY, NY)—A broad coalition of organizations descended on the New York State Capitol today to call on elected officials to safeguard vital water resources, air quality, public health and the environment from industrial gas drilling by means of high volume hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.” The groups were joined by more than 600 New Yorkers who traveled to Albany from across the state to meet with members of the State Legislature and voice concerns about the controversial drilling practice, which has poisoned drinking water and polluted air in other parts of the country. Three-time Academy Award®-nominated actress Debra Winger and Josh Fox, director of the Academy Award®-nominated documentary Gasland, spoke at the rally alongside State Senators Tony Avella, Liz Krueger and Mark Grisanti, and Assembly members William Colton, Steve Englebright, Brian Kavanagh, and Robert Sweeney. George Dunkel, Executive Director of American Academy of Pediatrics, New York Chapter; Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment; Robert Moore, Executive Director of Environmental Advocates of New York; Eric Weltman, Senior Organizer of Food and Water Watch; and David Braun, co-founder of United for Action, also spoke. Read More (Environmnental Advocates Press Release)

Click on images in table below to watch and comment on individual videos in this playlist.

	1/10 Albany Day of Action: Interviews Crowd scenes before the start of the rally. Interviews on how to get out of gas lease and legal fund in support of home rule. Duration 3:54
	2/2 Albany Day of Action: Tony Avella and Eric Weltman Senator Tony Avella, NY 11th Senate District (Northeast Queens), Senate Environmental Conservation Committee, and Eric Weltman, Food Water Watch Senior Organizer for New York, address the rally. Duration 7:34
	3/10 Albany Day of Action: Bob Sweeney and Linda Rosenthal Robert Sweeney, Assembly District 11 (Suffolk County) and Linda Rosenthal, NY Assembly District 67, address the rally. Duration 9:35
	4/10 Albany Day of Action: Robert Moore Robert Moore, Director, Environmental Advocates of New York, addresses the rally. Duration 4:15
	5/10: Albany Day of Action: Senator Liz Kruegar and Adrienne Esposito Senator Liz Kruegar, NY 26th District (Manhattan), and Adrienne Esposito, Citizens Campaign for the Environment (CCE), address the rally. Duration 9:34
	6/10 Albany Day of Action: Patrick McEllogott Patrick McEllogott, of Chanango County, has been on a hunger strike since Martin Luther King Jr Day over NY State Senator Tom Libous’ refusal to sit down and talk with him and other constituents opposed to hydrofracking in the district Libous represents. Duration 6:09
	7/10 Albany Day of Action: David Braum and Harvey Weisenberg David Braum, Organizer for United for Action, and Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg, District 20 (South Shore of Nassau County) address the rally. Duration 12:26
	8/10 Albany Day of Action: Senator Greg Ball, Julia Walsh Clare Sandberg Senator Greg Ball, Republican, 40th NYS Senate District (includes Putnam County) took several fact finding trips to Pennsylvania to learn about the effects of un-conventional gas drilling. He then convened Senate hearings on hydrofracking, and has become one of the strongest voices in the Senate opposed to the current practices of the energy corporations who want to bring their extractive industry to New York State. He makes a strong call for unity to face this theat, in particular between the Tea Party and Occupy movement. He is followed by Julia Walsh Clare Sandberg of Frack Action. Duration 8:24
	9/10 Albany Day of Action: Debora Winger and Josh Fox Actress Debora Winger and Filmmaker Josh Fox address the rally. Duration 11:34
	10/10 Albany Day of Action: Bread Action Wes Gillingham (Catskill Mountain Keeper) speaks about the recent action in Bulgaria where farmers carried loaves of bread to the seat of their government to protest their government’s decision to allow fracking in the heart of the country’s grain growing region. Sandra Steingrabber, Ecologist and Author (Living Down Stream, Raising Elija) speaks followed by Stefan Senders, the owner of Wide Awake Bakery in Trumansburg, flanked by Thor Oechsner, an organic farmer, and Neal Johnston, a miller, who provide the local grain and milling for Wide Awake Bakery bread. “We distributed almost 200 loaves of bread to the assembled crowd, and then we marched, led by a crowd of chanting, bread-carrying farmers, to Cuomo’s office”. Duration 16:41