[ A resounding victory in the primary race to be the next
Allegheny County Executive shows that bold candidates can defy
conventional wisdom by taking on the fossil fuel industry in its own
backyard.]
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SARA INNAMORATO UPENDS FRACKING POLITICS IN PENNSYLVANIA  
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Megan Mcdonough
May 31, 2023
Common Dreams
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_ A resounding victory in the primary race to be the next Allegheny
County Executive shows that bold candidates can defy conventional
wisdom by taking on the fossil fuel industry in its own backyard. _

Sara Innamorato celebrates after winning the election to for
Alleghenny County Executive on Tuesday, May 16, 2023., Photo: Benjamin
B. Braun/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette // Common Dreams

 

Pundits and political insiders have spent years warning candidates in
Pennsylvania that taking on the fracking industry means certain
defeat. Those of us who live here know better. We aren’t afraid to
fight corporate polluters—and we are showing that doing so is a
winning strategy.

Sara Innamorato’s resounding victory
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the primary race to be the next Allegheny County Executive shows that
bold candidates can defy conventional wisdom by taking on the fossil
fuel industry in its own backyard. And they are succeeding thanks to
powerful grassroots organizing that reaches voters directly.

This county executive is one of the most powerful positions in the
state—arguably the second- or third-most powerful office in
Pennsylvania. The outgoing executive, Rich Fitzgerald, made a name
for himself
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being an unwavering ally of the drilling industries. Fracking was
welcome in our county.

Our movement is unquestionably bolstered when leaders like Sara
Innamorato wield their own political power to stop the fossil fuel
industry. And she is not alone.

Those of us who live here know that what the industry promises—jobs
and economic prosperity—is little more than a mirage
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The jobs are few, the profits are siphoned away by executives and Wall
Street investors, and we are left with air and water pollution,
degraded property values, and a wide range of health problems.

That’s why we organize on the ground in communities that are being
targeted for drilling. We have developed strategies that use local
zoning ordinances
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keep the frackers away from our schools and neighborhoods. Last year,
we defied all the odds – and County Executive Fitzgerald’s
veto—by banning fracking in all of our county parks
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Next up: banning fracking countywide.

Our movement is unquestionably bolstered when leaders like Sara
Innamorato wield their own political power to stop the fossil fuel
industry. And she is not alone. Summer Lee was a community leader in
the fight to stop a fracking well
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Braddock - the town famously synonymous with its former mayor ( and
current U.S. Senator) John Fetterman
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successful campaign for a State House seat, part of a wave of bold
climate champions (including Sara Innamorato) that we helped send to
Harrisburg that year.

They arrived in a state capital that has historically been controlled
by dirty energy interests. But they pushed for bold climate
legislation that would keep fracking in check and help build a green
economy that works for everyone. Innamorato championed the Whole-Home
Repair Act
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a first-in-the-nation program that provides grants and loans to
bolster energy efficiency, along with workforce development programs
to create jobs in communities across the state.

In 2021, Summer Lee decided to run for a Congressional seat
representing Allegheny County. Outside interests poured millions into
the race
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inundating mailboxes and clogging the airwave with outrageous attacks.
But big money was no match for the people power that Lee and
grassroots organizers have built; she won the primary and the 2022
general election.

Innamorato blazed a similar trail this year, with a fiery campaign
that attracted dedicated volunteers eager to get the word out. For our
part, Food & Water Action knocked on 40,000 doors
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made thousands of texts and phone calls, and even wrote over 1,500
letters to voters.

This is the model for building political power—in Pennsylvania and
anywhere else. Community organizing is rarely glamorous work, but
it’s the only way to develop deep connections with folks who are
quite literally on the frontlines. In Allegheny County and across the
country, that means going to council meetings and community
get-togethers with neighbors who want to stop fracking near their
kids’ school. It means showing up to support families who have lost
their water, or whose lives have been turned upside down by illnesses
they suspect are connected to the drilling in their neighborhoods.

We cannot always give people the comfort they need. But we give them
the respect they deserve, and empower them to fight back. And when we
work to elect candidates like Sara Innamorato, we bring all of our
voices into the halls of power—which strikes fear into the hearts of
the fracking bosses who wish we would just go away.

No chance. We’re just getting started.

_[MEGAN MCDONOUGH is the Pennsylvania state director at Food & Water
Action, the political arm of the advocacy group Food & Water Watch.]_

_Licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to
republish and share widely._
 

* Sara Innamorato
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* Left Electoral Strategy
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* fracking
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* Environmental Activism
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* environmental movement
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* Climate Crisis
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* coalition politics
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* fossil fuels
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* Pennsylvania
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* Allegheny County
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* Pittsburgh
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* John Fetterman
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* Summer Lee
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* Food & Water Action
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