Yoko Ono and Artists Against Fracking

Artists Against Fracking is a coalition dedicated to banning hydraulic fracking everywhere. Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon took a tour of Northeast PA in January. This is their story and their plea.

Don't frack New York State!

Imagine there's no fracking...

Filming by Josh Fox

Yoko's Letter About Gas Drilling in PA

Read Yoko's poignant letter here.

"I was there.  I saw it.  It made me cry."

 

Yoko Ono and her son Sean Lennon visited Susquehanna County, PA, on January 17, 2013, accompanied by several others, including Susan Sarandon and Arun Gandhi.  Josh Fox was there with his camera as well.  The group spoke to several families  who have been severely affected by the gas wells surrounding their homes.



Voices Against Fracking in NY

Susan Sarandon, Arun Gandhi, Yoko Ono, and Sean Lennon speak to reporters about their deep concern about hydrofracking in New York State and the world. (January 2013)

Yoko and Friends Travel To PA

On January 17, 2013, Yoko Ono and her son Sean Lennon, accompanied by other celebrities, engaged a tour bus to take them to Susquehanna County, PA, where they met with several local families who have been severely impacted by natural gas drilling. Vera Scroggins, fearless and relentless warrior against fracking (and all it entails), took this video which has some special moments. If you are bothered by the barking dog, just go to 11:30 on the video. At that point Yoko and Sean, Susan Sarandon, Josh Fox, and Arun Gandhi, and others are sitting in the living room of a local family and viewing some video of methane gas billowing out of the family water well. At one point, I was so touched when Sean said to his mom," Mom, look! That's gas coming out of the well!" He is so kind to his mother, and to him she is just "Mom." One other moment that touched my heart was when Sean was heard saying, "I gotcha." He was holding on to his mom's arm to make sure she didn't slip on the ice. He was brought up right! Such a gentleman and so solicitous of his mom. At the end of Vera's video, Sean speaks poignantly to everyone on the bus, telling of his personal interest in protecting the environment and expressing his deep emotion about how people have been hurt. He has compassion and empathy, qualities I wish more people had.  I was really impressed with this group.  They were sincerely affected by what they saw.

Celebrities Against Fracking Tour NE Pennsylvania

Vera Scroggins wrote: "We're getting some great coverage about our Citizen Tour of Gasland, Pa. for the "Artists Against Fracking" ---showing the horrors of fracking." Celebrities Yoko Ono, Sean Lennon, Susan Sarandon, Arun Ghandi (Mahatma Ghandi's grandson), and others, hired a tour bus to drive from New York City to Northeast PA to see firsthand the effects of natural gas drilling and to talk to local people who have been adversely affected by the gas industry. Vera Scroggins: "Thanks, to Yoko, John and Susan for visiting us in Gasland, Pa. and witnessing what is happening after 650 gas wells have gone in the past five years and the industry is still in the early stages of inundating us with thousands of gas wells and hundreds of miles of high-pressure pipelines and toxic-emissions from dozens of compressor stations...."