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Design is in a time of transition. Whether its the influx of generative AI tools, Gen Z shaking off their post-COVID haze to drive new aesthetics, the practice of graphic design adding clarity to tight elections and challenging our meat consumption, or even the sudden viability of technologies ranging from environmentally friendly A/C to exoskeletons that are turning sci-fi dreams into practical realities, design is in a position to face an uncertain world of scarcity with an unprecedented abundance of innovation.Our honorees for the most innovative companies in design for 2025 span the gamut of product, architecture, and UX. But they are all united in pushing the consumer discourse through design and challenging the status quo to make the world betteror, at least, make it a little more brat.1. OnFor building faster shoes fasterLike all sneaker brands, On has carefully seeded its sought-after demographics into its marketingZendaya, FKA Twigsbut most of its collabs, which on paper are great (Loewe! Beams!) are actually relatively forgettable on their own, barely drifting from their approach to circular foamy Swiss minimalism. Its StockX listings sell for list.But On is selling all the same. Net sales were up 27% in 2024. Its built up to a certain quiet, cross-culture ubiquity. Think of it like the performance comfort statement of Lululemon in 2015, but not so bougie that cool kids in Europe and Asia wont wear it. No doubt being a young company helps here (On was founded in 2010). Theres a bring-your-own-meaning to it all that seemingly allows it to fit anywhere without the same cultural weight of donning a Dunk or a Samba. And that meaning is anchored in one of those ideas that make Nike so revolutionary: performance advertised in design.With a new technology called Lightspray, were seeing Ons ambitions grow. Despite a decade of experiments in additive manufacturing and circular products by competitors like Adidas, no sneaker brand has really cracked the code on balancing high performance, sustainable life cycle, and production efficiency. Lightspray is a promising approach to all three of these goals. A robot holds an outsole (produced in a traditional injection mold) and spins it around, all while a nozzle sprays the entire upper of the shoe into existence. That process takes just three minutes (while it takes another three for it to set). Lightspray requires no extra glues and can be colored with the most minimal spray of dye.On has simplified its sneaker to just a handful of components and a bare minimum of material, already reducing its carbon imprint by 75% on the upper alone. But because its made of just five parts, a Lightspray shoe can (theoretically) be more recyclable long term, as On promised to me earlier this year.Lightspray shoes have already been worn in multiple marathons (19 athletes wore them at the latest NYC marathon, including Hellen Obiri, who came in second place). This is a long-term bet on core design/manufacturing/performance tech from On, and will be something to watch for years to come.Read more about On, honored as No. 18 on Fast Companys list of the Worlds 50 Most Innovative Companies of 2025.2. SharkNinjaFor building irresistible home appliancesThe SharkNinja brand has come a long way since its vacuum infomercial days of the mid-aughts. The companyand its 1,100-person global design and engineering teamhas become one of the most sophisticated manufacturers of domestic appliances on the planet, packaging advanced engineering into novel, easy-to-use, affordable products.SharkNinja more than doubled its product portfolio in 2024 as part of a massive brand expansion involving categories ranging from outdoor gear (with a Yeti-like cooler) to beauty (Dyson-inspired hairstyling tools) to home (with a battery-powered fan that moves with you). But its runaway hit last year was in a category entirely of its own: the Ninja Slushi, an at-home frozen drink maker that allows customers to whip up a margarita in their kitchens or a perfect frozen Coke, la the 7-Eleven Slurpee. Before launching online in July, the $300 Slushi amassed a 200,000-person waitlist and garnered more than 200 million impressions across social media, and it has since sold out 15 times. This success is a result of the companys obsessive, value-grounded approach to innovation, which involves testing out its products in up to 750 homes before launch to ensure its customers feel competent trying their products the first timeand dont mind cleaning them up on the twentieth. If your cellphones not working, you blame the phone, says SharkNinja chief design officer Ross Richardson. If you cant cook a steak properly, or youre not able to dry your hair, most people will then blame themselves. SharkNinja wants to change that, ensuring that its products are not just well engineered and easy to use but also allow for creative exploration (which helps them go viral on social media). In the case of the Slushi, the 6.5-inch-wide machine fits onto your counter better than youd expect, and its prominent tap on the front requires no instruction manual to understand. Even the recipe booklet that comes with Slushi is less about the recipes than understanding basic ratios of, say, sugar and alcohol. Its a product that you can experiment with, says Richardson. When the consumer is not narrowed into You have to do it this way! they want to share. And as soon as they share, weve got virality.SharkNinjas engineering team keeps the innovations flowing by developing products in a 24-hour global relay, passing work from its Massachusetts headquarters to London to China (where manufacturing previously had been taking place) each day. For the FrostVault coolerwhich costs $250 and features drawers to keep your food dry from condensationthe Needham, Massachusetts, development team shoveled three tons of sand inside their studio to ensure that the drawers could open and close on a beach without jamming. SharkNinja can now build just about any product it can imaginefrom the popular $370 Woodfire electric grill and smoker to the $350 FlexFusion ceramic hair straightenerat a price most consumers can afford. That formula helped SharkNinja grow revenue 30% in 2024, breaking $5.5 billion for the first time. Were the fastest-growing outdoor cooking company in the world, and were also the fastest-growing hair tools company in the world, says CEO Mark Barrocas. Who would have thought that would be under the same umbrella?Read more about SharkNinja, honored as No. 27 on Fast Companys list of the Worlds 50 Most Innovative Companies of 2025.3. JKRFor creating beautiful, high-impact rebrandsMost rebrands tend to be either completely cringe or vastly underwhelming. But branding agency JKR spent 2024 pushing clients outside their comfort zones to launch a series of bold rebrands that breathed fresh life into legacy clients. With Impossible, JKR transformed the alt meat pioneers strangely greewashed packaging into a blood red celebration of plant meat. Brand awareness jumped 25% in the first three months after release. For the Kosher food staple Manischewitz, the firm swapped dull white packaging for eye-popping orange, pushing sales by 7% in what the brand anticipates will equate to 10% YOY growth. At RSPCA, the largest animal welfare charity in the world, JKR drove a 200% boost in donations through the brands first makeover in 50 years, which swapped stoic typography for cute animal icons. And while its too soon to know how JKRs work will impact Mozilla, the companys new funky, pixel-loving makeover vows to reclaim the internet with dinosaurs and rainbow gradients.4. Foster + PartnersFor refreshing an icon and reviving a city in the processAn icon is back in San Francisco, thanks to a $1 billion project between the real estate developer SVHO and the architecture firm Foster + Partners. The duo reimagined the Transamerica Pyramid Center as a luxe modern workspace to reinvigorate the struggling downtown. Foster + Partners took the renovations all the way back to the studs. Drop ceilings and superfluous cladding were removed, increasing headspace by 10 full feet in the entrance. Clearer windows embrace unparalleled views across the Bay, which can be enjoyed from opulent casual meeting spaces in the center of the tower and top floor.But despite the lease prices that are 3x competitors in the area, its celebrating 70% occupancy in its first year of release and multiyear partnership with TED AI. As for the redwood park planted outside in 1930? Thats not only still open to the public with more seating than before, but it hosts biweekly concerts open to the community. 5. Special OfferFor turning a color into a cultural momentIt was Brat summer, and we were all just living in it. But Charli XCXs cultural movement owes some of its success to the NYC design studio Special Offer. The firm developed Brats iconic, arresting green brand seen on the album and merch, with its almost lazily, stubbornly printed typeface.In a world full of brands that try too hard, its an aesthetic thats difficult to describe in any other way than . . . so brat. But the brands greatest success was how fans made it their own. Not only was #brat used 1.4 million times on TikTok and 2.7 million times on Instagram, but a Brat Generator was visited more than 5 million times as fans built their own brat memes for the season.With apologies to all things demure, 2024 belonged to the brats. Into 2025, Special Offer is collaborating with several unannounced brands. Its newest project is building the exhibition identity for the Louis Vuitton Visionary Journeys installation in Bangkok.6. CactusFor redesigning the entire experience of healthcareIn a world full of design consultancies, Cactus has distinguished itself as a leader in rethinking every touch point of healthcarebe it hospital design or digital workflowswith clients that include Mayo Clinic, Advent Health, and Wellstar. One landmark project will begin construction in March. Its a new oncology bay for USCs Norris Center. Inspired by a first-class airline cabin, these modular rooms will offer comfortable, private spaces to cancer patients who are undergoing transfusions. Experimental treatments, in particular, can require patients to be connected to machinery for up to 12 hours. The new bays allow them to rest in a reclining chair or bed complete with amenities like music and a screen.In addition to offering the patient a cozier environment, the bays are nested together, making them space efficient and increasing the Norris Centers capacity by 50%, while being easy for healthcare professionals to monitor. Norris Center will also test moving these bays outside of the clinic, given that their modular design can essentially create a pop-up clinic anywhere.7. Code and TheoryFor building interfaces that offer clarity during uncertaintyDigital agency Code and Theory is building the best data visualization tool in broadcast today. Following the firms success rebuilding CNNs touchscreen Magic Wall in 2018, NBC recruited Code and Theory to re-create its competing Big Board for live news broadcasts.The new board, which debuted for the presidential primaries last year, became the focus on MSNBCs election night coverage. Data guru Steve Kornacki used it to take 5.5 million Americans through a tumultuous night, zooming into districts with 10M+ data points from 16 years of electoral data, with real-time updates of 16,356 geographies across the U.S.Code and Theory was also tapped by Microsoft last year to develop immersive product landing pages for one of its most important releases in recent history: the Microsoft Copilot+ PC. Rather than build a traditional promotional website, the firm created dynamically generated pages across 52 markets worldwide, tailoring these AI demos to a users own interests and inputs. 8. SquarespaceFor using AI to build custom websites even fasterFor all of the promise of generative AI, it hasnt offered a lot to the average person. But for Squarespace users looking to construct beautiful websites as fast as possible, the companys Blueprint AI tool made the task even easier. Through natural languagejust answering a few questions about their businessusers can have Squarespace build them a custom site with a modern layout, customized fonts, and interchangeable colors. It will even fill the site with stock imagery and generated copy. Of course, Squarespace might not get the design perfectly to your liking, but each component is easily updated through the graphic interface. After a few years of stock ups and downs, Squarespace was acquired by private equity firm Permira last year. Blueprint AI is an innovation modernizing the companys design tools. It improves on Squarespaces templated approach to website building and pushes it a step further in speedy, simple UX that courted 25% of users to try it last year across 200 countries.9. QuiltFor building a heat pump that anyone can useIts so small that you barely notice it. Unlike your traditional space heater or window A/C unit, the Quilt heat pump almost disappears onto a walldespite replacing both of these products in one. As the smallest and most efficient multi-zon heat pump on the market, the units are a mere 8 inches tall and can heat or cool a room automatically with the assistance of predictive algorithms.Quilt makes convenience a core feature: The company handles everything from sales to installation, pairing customers with an installer. That convenience is catching on. After launching the heat pump in the Redwood City area in May, Quilt quickly sold out of its 2024 inventory. In 2025, it plans to spread to five major markets including L.A.While the product promises to save customers energy and money, the carbon impact alone might make the upgrade worthwhile: Over the next 15 years, Quilts most ambitious targets project cutting the CO2 equivalent of the state of California up to 10 times over.10. SkipFor making it easier to moveSkip may very well sell you your first exoskeleton. After spinning out of Google X in 2023, the robotics company developed what it dubs an e-bike for hiking called Mo/Go (which is short for mountain goat.) Its a pair of robotic bracers that move along with your stride, relieving half the effort of each step.But while most robots look like robots, Skip teamed with the outdoor gear company Arcteryx to integrate Mo/Go into a pair of pants. The pants made their debut in August 2024 through a climbing clinic in Squamish, Canada, and since then, Skip spent the latter half of the year validating and refining both the fit and the algorithms behind the design through hundreds of testers whove rented samples, more than half of whom reported loving the experience.After fulfilling its $4,500 preorders that start shipping in fall 2025, Skip plans to put Mo/Go on sale inside Arcteryx stores and eventually expand its purview to serve people with movement challenges from strokes or Parkinsons disease. In other words, while Mo/Go is being designed for hikers hoping to get a leg up on the trail, the performance machine is being developed to eventually benefit everyone who just wants to move with more ease.Explore the full 2025 list of Fast Companys Most Innovative Companies, 609 organizations that are reshaping industries and culture. Weve selected the companies making the biggest impact across 58 categories, including advertising, applied AI, biotech, retail, sustainability, and more.
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Have you ever finished off your last pickle spear and, craving a little more of that vinegary punch, taken a couple of sips of brine straight from the jar? Or maybe youre more open about your pickle juice habits and like to mix up a pickle martini in the light of day, rather than hunched over your fridge light at 2 a.m. Whatever you prefer, now theres a product designed for exactly those kinds of moments. Claussen, the Chicago-based pickle purveyor, has picked up on the TikTok trend of using pickle brine as a mixer for everything from Diet Coke to pickle cereal, and theyre meeting customers where theyre at with a new drink called Just the Brine. As the name suggests, Just the Brine is an eight-ounce bottle of juice-sans-pickle. The limited-edition product comes in a six-pack, and it debuted for a short time on GoPuff over the weekend in honor of St. Patricks Day (for those who missed out, it’s now available to win on Claussens website while supplies last.) Just the Brine is the latest evolution of a pickle craze that started back in 2022 (remember Sonics pickle slushie?) and has shown a shockingly strong staying power in the cultural zeitgeist. [Photo: Claussen] Care for some pickles with that brine? Since 2022, weve gone from pickle pizza and potato chips to Grillos pickle toothpasteand, judging by TikToks ongoing pickle obsession, it seems like the trend has yet to run its course. Users are finding ways to use the preserved vegetables that even the most ardent pickle fans never couldve imagined, like a pickle fountain or a fried pickle board. The next evolution of the trend, it seems, is to just lose the pickles altogether. Last October, Dua Lipas viral TikTok video mixing Diet Coke with pickle juice sparked a cultural moment, amassing over 12 million views, says Caroline Sheehey, Claussens brand manager. Inspired by her mixture, Claussen responded by seeding a product concept, Just The Brine, on Instagram. The post received nearly 70,000 likes and thousands of comments from fans sharing how they already love Claussens beloved brine and use it in a variety of ways such as after a sports workout, as a brine for their chicken, to help with dehydration as a morning after cure, cocktail mixer, and more. After seeing the fan response, Sheehy says, the team knew they had to make Just the Brine a reality. Claussen is marketing its brine bottles as a kind of dual-purpose product: a mixer to pregame your night out, and an electrolyte beverage for your inevitable hangover the next day. One serving size is two ounces, which contains 630 mg of sodium (about half the sodium content of a standard instant ramen pack.) [Just the Brine] is perfect for pickling at night and using as a mixer in your cocktails or soda, and perfect for unpickling the next morning as a refreshing electrolyte boost, Sheehy says. Its a strange marketing tactic, given that curing your pickle-induced hangover with more pickles seems like the quickest way to never want to set eyes on the color green again. But, lets be honest, the chances that Claussen ever actually adds this stunt product to its permanent line-up are slim to noneso the lucky few who get their hands on it might as well enjoy it via a pickle-fueled rager while it lasts.
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Her voice cracking with emotion as she stood under the fluorescent lights, Janice Blanock asked her local legislators in southwestern Pennsylvania to take a moment and leaf through the photos of her son that shed handed them. Theres really nothing different that I can say to you that I havent said already over the last several months, she told supervisors for the tiny township of Cecil outside Pittsburgh. I can, however, share these photographs. These are just a few of the many pictures we have of our son Luke, from the time he became ill until before he died. The supervisors were gathered to vote on a zoning ordinance amendment that would greatly increase the required buffer zone between oil and gas drilling operations and homes and schools. The proposed rule mandating a setback of 2,500 feetfive times the distance of the current lawhad originally been proposed as a statewide requirement by Governor Josh Shapiro when he was Pennsylvanias attorney general. A bill based on that recommendation later stalled out when introduced in the state House of Representatives. Blanock, a 30-year resident of Cecil, had a reason to take the issue seriously. Her son waged a three-year battle with a rare type of bone cancer known as Ewings sarcoma and died in 2016 at age 19. Many believe, though theres yet to be demonstrable proof, that his cancer could be tied to oil and gas drillings many carcinogenic pollutants, some that are radioactive. In 2019, a cluster of Ewings sarcoma cases was identified in Washington County, where Cecil is located. Cecils school district was hit particularly hard. The county is home to more than 2,000 natural gas wells and was the 2004 birthplace of the states fracking industry. (Fracking is a process in which sand, water, and chemicals are blasted into the earth to free fossil fuel.) A growing body of peer-reviewed research has linked living near natural gas drilling operations to cancers and respiratory, reproductive, and neurological damage. In 2023, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and the state Department of Health linked fracking exposure in the region encompassing Cecil to increased risk of asthma and lymphoma. Will you look at the damn picture, Darlene, Blanock urged one supervisor after handing her a photo of Luke. Around an hour later, the zoning ordinance passed and the room erupted with applause. With that, Cecila town of just 15,000 residents and no outsize political powerbecame the first jurisdiction in Pennsylvania to adopt such a restrictive measure, even as similar efforts at the state level have failed. But already it is facing legal challenges from two natural gas companies active in the areaTexas-based fracking company Range Resources, and Colorado-based gas pipeline company MarkWest Liberty Midstream. The Cecil Township Board of Supervisors meets monthly at the towns Municipal Building. [Photo: Audrey Carleton] Under current requirements, natural gas wells in Pennsylvania must be at least 500 feet from buildings and water wells, which environmentalists and medical experts say is not far enough. In 2023, a bill that would have required all new natural gas wells in the state to be located at least 2,500 feetnearly half a milefrom buildings and water wells was slated for a committee vote, but was abruptly killed at the request of Democratic leadership in the state House of Representatives. Three years before that, then-Attorney General Josh Shapiro released a grand jury report calling for a statewide 2,500-foot buffer between human activity and natural gas production. There is one point that is impossible to deny, the grand jury report stated. The closer people happen to live to a massive, industrial drilling complex, the worse it is likely to be for them. While that plea failed to get political traction, environmental groups continue to urge action. For their part, natural gas industry groups have minimized concerns about health risks associated with fracking exposure and have resisted proposals for setbacks or no-drill zones. But despite industry efforts, Cecil has gone its own way. The townships updated oil and gas ordinance prohibits new oil and gas wells from being drilled within 2,500 feet of protected structures, which includes homes, businesses, and religious institutions, and within 5,000 feet of schools and hospitals. Though the ordinance does not call for an outright ban on new drilling, Range Resources contends it would limit fracking in Cecil in such a way that it violates state law. The township argues otherwise: Wells located outside Cecil can still be drilled under the town. The ordinance also imposes additional restrictions on the industry that have generated less debate: It prohibits retention ponds for water used in the fracking process, places new noise restrictions on drilling, and limits work hours on well pads. I was not sure for the longest time that this was going to go this way, said Sarah Martik, a Cecil resident and executive director of the Center for Coalfield Justice, a southwestern Pennsylvania-based nonprofit environmental justice organization. This one thing is as far as weve ever gone, as far as regulating this industry in a way that is protective of our communities. But the road to this outcome was fraught. Documents obtained by Capital & Main through right-to-know requests reveal an up-close look at life in the shale fields, with citizens largely fed up with living alongside the natural gas industry. Noise, bright lights, and shaking at all hours were among the complaints emailed to supervisors in the months ahead of the vote. Here I am once again trying to prepare for another sleepless night, one resident wrote to the supervisors in May. My whole house shakes, my children are disturbed from sleep, my pets are afraid to be out in the yardcan you please help us. “I have SUFFERED from vertigo for years, another resident wrote in June, referring to vibrations from drilling at a nearby well pad that she felt in her home. You know in some places they torture people with this kind of low res hum and vibration. Torturebecause that is what it is. Documents also offer a look at the playbook the industry followed to curry favor among Cecil residents. Over the five years before the ordinance was adopted in 2024, Range Resources, the townships only active natural gas well operator with 34 active wells per state records, donated nearly to $300,000 to the community. The money was disbursed throughout the township, the encompassing school district, and local volunteer first responder organizations, and it was spent on festivals, childrens sports teams, a science fair, and CPR training sessions, according to a spreadsheet obtained by Capital & Main through a right-to-know request. Range Resources did not immediately respond to Capital & Mains request for comment. At least one township supervisor has financial ties to Range Resources. Records show Supervisor Darlene Barni has, for many years, maintained an oil and gas lease with the company; she ultimately recused herself from the final ordinance vote but participated in earlier stages of its development and routinely shares pro-oil and gas posts on Facebook. The company also weighed in at multiple stages during the drafting of the ordinance, using experts to testify against existing science that ties fracking to poor environmental and health outcomes and urging town leaders to refrain from enacting a setback as large as 2,500 feet. At least 92% of Cecil Townships surface property would be excluded from future oil and gas development, an attorney for Range Resources told supervisors in a letter. This would have the effect of limiting residents oil and gas royalty payments, he wrote. The attorney said the setbacks were exceedingly restrictive and inconsistent. Though the company currently has no permits under consideration for new well pads, Range Resources is challenging the ordinance with the townships Zoning Hearing Board. This process could take months, and the challenge is opposed by the township, residents, and several local environmental groups. At issue is whether Cecils ordinance is legal. Its a very, very specific question, said Kara Shirdon, who chairs the Cecil Zoning Hearing Board but recused herself for Range Resources legal challenge to eliminate the appearance of bias (Shirdon has been publicly supportive of the setback ordinance.) Though she said shes confident the ordinance will survive, she believes it will strain the townships resources. I think, honestly, the whole entire thing is because theyre pissed and they want to drain as much money as possible out of the township as punishment for not letting them do what they want to do. * * * Michelle Stonemark moved to Cecil township in 2012 after her parents bought around 30 acres there with the intent of housing their children and grandchildren. Her parents, sister, and family friends all built homes next to one another, in succession. And then it was my turn, Stonemark told Capital & Main. Just as I had gotten the drawing . . . we find out that Range Resources had applied to put a well pad in right behind my new house. With around 30 days notice, she recalled, Stonemark and her family found legal help and learned everything we could about fracking, in order to oppose the project. But their effort failed. We didnt have enough time. We were starting from nothing, she said. Drilling at the pad began in 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 lockdown, as Stonemark, her husband and three children were stuck at home. Today, the well pad, known as Augustine George, sits just over 500 feet from her home, she said, and routinely rattles the walls and windows and sends fumes into the air. She said she and members of her family often experience headaches, nausea, nosebleeds, and earaches. They can feel vibrations from the well pad in their chests, she said. Flaring would go off at any and all times, during the day, at night, she said. Flaring, which involves burning off excess methane, has been linked to asthma and other respiratory conditions. In response, Stonemark launched a Facebook page she uses to serve as an industry watchdog: She posts photos, videos, and documents relevant to the oil and gas industrys indiscretions, and publicly mourns the future she once envisioned for herself in Cecil. As I stand outside on this beautiful morning I cannot enjoy the day, she wrote in one post in May. A foul odor lingers in the air, and the constant low noises pulsate through my ears and head. Stonemark and her husband are also now attempting to intervene legally ad become a formal party against Range Resources challenge to the setback ordinance. Shirdon said she first caught wind of Range Resources plans for a well pad in 2017, less than a year after moving into her home. Since then, she said shes experienced headaches, sinus and respiratory issues, difficulty concentrating and sleeping, and irritability. The part that people underestimate, I think, is how much anxiety it causes, Shirdon said. Every time you feel the rumble, or every time you get stopped on the road, you start to worry, Are my kids being adversely affected by whats going on here? Merle Lesko has lived in his house nearby for nearly 30 years. Lesko said he and Stonemark often jokingly spar over who lives closer to the Augustine George pad. Salmon pink sound walls, dozens of feet high, poke through a line of trees behind his property. Lesko first urged the township to adopt a new buffer ordinance in early 2024, after regularly recording the decibel level emitted by the Augustine George pad at different locations in his house. He moved his bed and the desk where he works based on the lowest noise reading he found in his residencehis basementjust to escape the vibrations that would rattle his house. The noise was so bad, you could hear or feel the noise over a running lawnmower, he said. Theyve taken so many summers from me.” Though it took months of often impassioned debate, the adoption of Cecils ordinance has added fuel to a fight at the state level, where climate justice organizations are urging environmental regulators to increase the statewide oil and setback of 500 feet. In October, the Protective Buffers Pennsylvania campaign filed a petition with the states Environmental Quality Board, pushing for the adoption of an executive rule that would require a 3,281-foot buffer between fracking wells and buildings and water wellsa setback nearly 1,000 feet wider than in Cecils ordinance. There should be a baseline floor of protection for everybody in the commonwealth, said Lisa Hallowell, senior attorney at the Environmental Integrity Project, an environmental nonprofit that helped author the petition. More than 10% of Pennsylvanians lived within a half mile of an active oil and gas well as of 2022, the petition notes. Many share medical symptomsrashes, cancers, sleep disordersand have seen their water supplies affected by fracking, the petition states. Protective Buffers Pennsylvania has been involved in previous attempts to pass tougher statewide setback rules, including the 2023 bill that died in committee, Hallowell said. These efforts never got far. The Legislature has not had an appetite for that, she noted. Indeed, around the time that the 2023 setback bill was circulating through the Legislature, state Senator Gene Yaw of Williamsport, Republican chair of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, questioned the need for the measure at all, saying in a public hearing that he had not heard of any links between fracking and cardiovascular, reproductive, or nervous system damage. Yaw has, separately, disclosed personal income from oil and gas companies EQT and Equinor, and won his reelection to the senate in November after accepting thousands of dollars in campaign donations from the oil and gas industry. A group of Democratic senators has announced that they soon plan to reintroduce the 2,500-foot setback proposal. But that bill will face an uphill battle in a divided Legislature. Janice Blanock at home [Photo: Audrey Carleton] After helping cement the setback proposal as law in Cecil, Blanock now wants to see other communities protected. Were hoping this movement goes far and wide, Blanock said the day after the ordinance passed. I think, just the fact that that happened last night, people will learn about it [and think], If they can do it, why cant we? Several months later, as legal challenges threaten Cecils hard-won victory, Blanock remains resolute. She still chokes back tears when she talks about Luke, and still resents having had her concerns about health risks associated with fracking exposure denied by the industry. Its not just about Luke, she said. This is about my other children, my grandchildren, my community, my family, friends, neighbors. Blanock shares photos and mementos of her son Luke. [Photo: Audrey Carleton] They can appeal it, she said of the natural gas companies challenging the ordinance. And then we can appeal it. Were as strong in our resolve to win this as they are. This piece was originally published by Capital & Main, which reports from California o economic, political, and social issues.
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