Josh Fox, Joe Levine, Al Appleton, Ramsay Adams, Mark Ruffalo, Arts for Peace, Catskill Mountainkeeper, Damascus Citizens for Sustainability & NYH20 Announce The Citizens for Water Foundation

Celebrities, Activists, and Business Leaders Unite to Fight Fracking

“The technology used to get gas flowing out of the ground — called hydraulic fracturing, or hydrofracking — can require over a million gallons of water per well, and some of that water must be disposed of because it becomes contaminated by the process. If shale gas wells fade faster than expected, energy companies will have to drill more wells or hydrofrack them more often, resulting in more toxic waste.”

– New York Times, “Insiders Sound an Alarm Amid a Natural Gas Rush,” June 25, 2011

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Citizens for Water Foundation (CWF) is a 501(c) not-for-profit organization committed to protecting and preserving America’s water resources today and for all future generations. CWF was formed in response to the accelerating development of extreme methods of fossil fuel extraction throughout the US and specifically, hydraulic-fracturing in the northeast.

“Whether extracting oil from tar sands in Canada, mountaintop removal for coal in Appalachia, or deepwater drilling in the Gulf, we cannot afford to ruin our water supply. The cost now and to future generations is simply too great.”

“Fracking and other extreme fossil fuel development present dangerous and shortsighted solutions to the world’s energy needs,” says CWF Co-Executive Director Joe Levine. “Whether extracting oil from tar sands in Canada, mountaintop removal for coal in Appalachia, or deepwater drilling in the Gulf, we cannot afford to ruin our water supply. The cost now and to future generations is simply too great.”

CWF is a coalition of business leaders, industry specialists, scientists, activists, organizations and everyday citizens. Architect and grassroots organizer Joe Levine and project developer and water activist Richard Murdock lead the coalition as Co-Executive Directors. Additional experts and affiliates include international water resource expert Al Appleton, Josh Fox, writer and director of the Academy Award nominated documentary ‘Gasland,’ actor and anti-fracking activist Mark Ruffalo, Executive Director of Catskill Mountainkeeper Ramsay Adams, The Arts for Peace Initiative (in Support of the UN Water for Life Decade for Action), NYH20, Damascus Citizens For Sustainability, and The Cooper Union Institute for Sustainable Design.

The organization maintains that all people have a fundamental, universal human right to clean water. CWF is dedicated to educating the public about the serious health, environmental and economic impacts created by fracking and other extreme fossil fuel extraction. CWF provides essential tools to educate and assist communities in protecting their natural resources.

CWF provides a forum for an ever-expanding network of regional and national experts in the field of environmental law, conservation, sustainable energy development, watershed and foodshed management. CWF engages audiences, policy makers, community leaders and citizens in the necessary and vital transition away from fossil fuel dependence to a renewable clean energy future.

“The dangers of fracking include drinking water contaminated with toxic chemicals and radioactive waste, residents getting sick, livestock dropping dead, gas wells exploding, and property values tanking,” says Ramsay Adams. “Fracking is about money and greed, not energy independence, and what’s at stake here is our water, our health and our land.”

CWF will soon announce plans for a major awareness-raising event, “Concert For Water,” to be overseen by producer Paul Waterman of Cosmic Screen to take place in New York City later this fall. Further details TBA. For more information please visit www.citizensforwater.org.