Natalie Merchant and a group of fellow New York–based artists will participate in a rally and concert event in Albany on Tuesday, May 15, regarding the dangers of hydraulic fracturing and to call on Governor Cuomo to ban the controversial natural gas drilling process in New York State. Also participating are Medeski Martin & Wood, Citizen Cope, The Felice Brothers, Joan Osborne, Tracy Bonham, Toshi Reagon, Dan Zanes, Ida, The Horse Flies, and The Ahkwesasne Women Singers. Actors Mark Ruffalo and Melissa Leo will host. The rally will take place on The West Capitol Lawn, followed by the concert at The Egg.
Natalie Merchant and a group of fellow New York–based artists will participate in a rally and multi-media concert event in Albany on Tuesday, May 15, regarding the dangers of hydraulic fracturing and to call on Governor Cuomo to ban the controversial natural gas drilling process in New York State. Among the other musicians participating are Medeski Martin & Wood, Citizen Cope, The Felice Brothers, Joan Osborne, Tracy Bonham, Toshi Reagon, Dan Zanes, Ida, The Horse Flies, and The Ahkwesasne Women Singers. Academy Award–nominated actor Mark Ruffalo and Academy Award–winning actress Melissa Leo will be official hosts of the evening. All of the artists involved make New York State their home and are committed to keeping it fracking-free. The official rally will begin at 4 PM ET on The West Capitol Lawn and will be followed by the concert at The Egg: Center For Performing Arts at 7 PM.
Academy Award–winning filmmaker Alex Gibney (Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Elliot Spitzer, Taxi to the Dark Side, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) will capture the musical performances, films, speeches, and testimonials given by scientists, authors, economists, politicians, and activists, on hydraulic fracturing.
This show is the brainchild of New Yorkers Against Fracking, a new coalition of diverse grassroots, state-wide organizations that have joined together with the common goal of banning hydrofracking in New York State. Ecologist and author Sandra Steingraber, Ph.D. (Raising Elijah: Protecting Our Children in an Age of Environmental Crisis) will be on hand to share her experience and expertise on the issue.
“I'm terrified of what may happen to my home state if hydraulic fracturing begins,” says Merchant. “Significant parts of rural New York will be sacrificed for relatively short-term gain in exchange for long-term degradation and contamination. Our most critical resource: WATER, both on the surface and underground will be endangered.”
This concert is presented by New Yorkers Against Fracking in partnership with the Finger Lakes CleanWaters Initiative, Inc. and is powered in part by the wind due to a Wind Energy Donation compliments of Community Energy. For tickets, go to theegg.org.
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