They're hoping their efforts won't be in vain, and that Senate President Joe Negron will use his power to force a vote.
The Florida legislature is yet again considering a bill that would bar the controversial practice from taking place once and for all. Or, they were considering it until a powerful Panhandle senator struck it from the agenda of the committee he chairs, essentially putting the bill on life support.
Prior to that, environmentalists thought it had a pretty decent chance, what with bipartisan support and the objectively frightening pitfalls of the practice for public health, the environment, wildlife and anything else that's not the oil and gas industry or the politicians they enrich.
Fracking, of course, is short for hydraulic fracturing. It's a way for companies to extract oil and gas from beneath layers of solid rock underground. That process involves shooting pressurized water, often mixed with an acidic chemical cocktail, into the rock in order to dissolve or break it. Environmentalists argue that it not only endangers Florida's naturally occurring underground water source, which flows through a layer of porous subterranean rock, but it could also pose a threat to the natural environment and water supply once waste materials are disposed of. Plus, fracking does absolutely nothing to curb fossil fuel dependence.
"Florida's fragile ecosystems make fracking a non-starter." said Dr. Rob Levy, a Martin County physician in a written statement following the rally. "The chemicals used in fracking include carcinogens, like benzene, that are injected deep underground and threaten our aquifers. We must protect our natural resources and water sources by passing the fracking ban."
Public health educator Tiffany Parisi said there have been over 600 studies that demonstrate the potential harm of unleashing the practice on a community.
“Fracking has been linked to birth defects, respiratory problems, and places our children’s lives at unnecessary risk,” Parisi said in a statement.
The proposed fracking ban's house and senate sponsors are Tampa Bay area Republicans — Rep. Kathleen Peters (R-Treasure Island) and Sen. Dana Young (R-Tampa).
Proponents hoped it would sail through committee in both chambers for full floor votes, but things fell apart when State Sen. Rob Bradley (R-Orange Park), who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, left it off his committee's Feb. 27 agenda.
With the legislative session winding down, the only hope proponents of the ban have is Senate President Joe Negron (R-Stuart), who has the power bring the bill for a full floor vote whether or not it passes committee.
They believe it has a good chance of passage in the full senate.
The activists chose Martin County for their rally venue since that's where Negron is based, and hope pushing the message there will hit close to home for him.
“Floridians in Stuart and across the state are looking to Senate President Negron to continue his legacy of fighting for clean water by bringing the fracking ban bill forward,” said Food and Water Watch's Michelle Allen. "The Senate is on board to ban fracking and now we need Senate leadership to step up and allow a final vote.”
A spokeswoman for Food and Water Watch said they have yet to hear back from Negron's office. CL reached out to Negron for comment Friday, and will update this post with any comments he offers if we hear back.
This article appears in Mar 1-8, 2018.