Members of local environmentalist groups will team up with members of Occupy Denver to rally and protest an upcoming “unconventional” oil and gas convention at the Colorado Convention Center, where former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum will promote the interests of the ideologically counter-progressive 1%.
When: Tuesday, May 15th, from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM.
Where: By the “blue bear” on 14th and Stout, right outside the Colorado Convention Center, 700 14th Street.
The purpose of this rally is to let the corporate executives and engineers who pack this convention know that turning Colorado into a dead zone for hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) and oil shale development is decidedly NOT OK with us; also to raise concern among the general public about the dangers of unconventional methods of oil development. We will rally outside the Colorado Convention Center before and during Rick Santorum’s keynote speech (which begins at noon) to let people know what’s going on inside, and what this means for the future of our state—unless we put an end to it. An open mic forum will be held to address issues crucial to the physical health of our people as well as the environmental/ ecological health of our state.
Be sure to make a visible sign so that you can send your message to all inside, and to the general public outside. (Possible sign-making ideas: “Colorado Not For Sale”; “There Be Frackers In Here”; “No Country For Old White Frackers,” etc.) We also encourage anyone to bring theatrical ideas to dramatize this event (haz-mat suits, EPA inspector costumes, gas masks, “fracking fluid,” etc. would be quite appropriate here).
The Convention is titled “Developing Unconventional Oil: North America’s Bountiful Resource.” (“Bountiful” is obviously code for “plenty,” as in “ripe for profit,” etc.) The entrance fee for this conference/ exhibition is $995 per person, guaranteeing that no representative of the soiled masses shall enter. (In all fairness, it should be noted that the cost is generously reduced to $885 per person if you’re with a group of four or more. So how can you call that ‘elitist’?) Oh, and leading sponsors for the convention include Haliburton among others. Really, need we say any more?
For a more in-depth account of what this is all about, here is a brief description taken straight from the website’s welcome page: “In 2011 alone, 67% of DUO’s audience was corporate and engineering management along with research and development. Operating and financial companies accounted for over 55% of conference delegates.” So this is kinda like a country club gathering for oil tycoons. Full details about the conference are available at http://www.hartduo.com/. The “conference agenda” is well worth a look, http://www.hartduo.com/ConferenceAgenda/. If you’re interested in finding links to articles with titles like “Why BP May Be The Ultimate ‘Bounce-Back’ Stock,” the website may be worth browsing at some length. And finally, should you have any questions about the event (like, “Why does it cost so much?”), there are plenty of folks on staff to answer them via email—just go to http://www.hartduo.com/Contact/.
In case anyone should like to make a more permanent presence at this event—or rather, outside of it—it should be noted that the convention actually begins on Monday, May 14th at 1:00 PM and ends at noon on Wednesday, May 16th. So, if you have spare time, feel free to greet these people as they come in, or bid them farewell as they leave, letting them know exactly what you think about their intentions to ‘develop’ “unconventional oil” in Colorado. They might tell you that it’s in the best interest of Coloradans, that it’s good for the economy, that it creates jobs, and so on – but what would you like to tell them?
Mothers in the community of Erie, Colorado, are working desperately to stop a giant oil and gas company from fracking next to their kids’ elementary school. They’ve asked Encana, a giant oil and gas company, to abandon this one well and protect their children, but the company refuses. Fracking is associated with increased truck traffic, dangerous chemicals as well as air and water contamination. It’s hard to believe Encana would even consider fracking near an elementary school – worse, its hard to believe that regulatory systems in Colorado have failed to prevent this from happening. And yet, Encana has gone through all of the proper channels and has the green light to start fracking on May 26th. Will you ask Jeff Wojahn, the president of Encana, to abandon this well today? 
Larry LeDue, lecturer and consultant on sustainable living, as well as founder of 