Voters in Colorado reject fracking, social media proves more powerful than money

[mota bhai 2,675]

Colorado was ground zero in the hydraulic fracturing debate on Tuesday, as four local municipalities voted on moratoriums or outright bans. In Boulder, 76 percent of voters favored extending a moratorium already in place. In Fort Collins, 55 percent supported a freeze on the practice. In Lafayette, 58 percent voted for a charter amendment that will ban fracking permanently. Only in Broomfield, an area that traditionally trends Republican, did voters reject the environmentalist agenda. It’s five-year fracking ban failed by the slimmest of margins (50.51 to 49.49 – or just 194 votes).

...

If Tuesday’s results are any indication, more are on the way. And that’s despite a major energy industry lobbying advantage that has won some powerful allies; despite industry advertising budgets that dwarf the activist war chest.

...

On fracking, we are watching the same movie all over again. Social media outreach, online content development, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Marketing (SEM) are all dominated by activist voices. As a result, they are not only rallying significant grassroots opposition; they are doing it in ways that neutralize any advantage that industry money once provided.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Association spent $878,120 on city-specific campaigns to defeat the four proposed moratoriums. Activists spent $26,000 in support of those measures. But while industry money went into advertising and traditional “outreach” campaigns ... activists stretched every dollar with online efforts that prove far more effective.

They built content-rich microsites that clearly and succinctly laid out the supposed dangers. They utilized Facebook to target their messages, tap into supporters’ networks, and ensure their people got to the polls. They utilized Twitter to push every positive development and promote local screenings of the anti-fracking documentaries Gasland and Gasland II. They even leveraged YouTube to share visuals of fracking’s alleged impacts and infuse their overarching messages with added doses of emotion and fear.

They also supported each of those efforts with SEO and SEM campaigns that shot their messages to the top of the Google rankings.

...

Colorado was the continuation of trends we’ve seeing across the country for some time. Consider the national presence that fracking opponents maintain on social media. Combined, the top ten opposition groups enjoy 2.1 million Facebook likes and 1.2 million Twitter followers. Those figures far outweigh the 28,000 Facebook likes and 70,000 Twitter followers that supporters have attracted to date.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/richardlevick/2013/11/07/colorado-rejects-fracking-the-moneys-not-talking-social-media-is/

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

Was this based off of that Matt Damon movie that came out about Fracking.