“Chicks Dig Fracking” Educates Women on Energy Issues

As a professional in the oil and gas industry, Susan Fakharzadeh was looking for fun a way to engage more women in issues related to energy, especially fracking. Her goal was “to take out some of the volatility associated with the word…I wanted to take back the word ‘frack’ so that it wasn’t always associated with something negative.” Thus, Chicks Dig Fracking was born.

The new group works to get news out there that the mainstream media won’t touch and to highlight hypocrisy. Celebrities who show up at an anti-fracking rally and leave the tour bus idling? Anti-fracking chefs who don’t seem to realize that they’re cooking with gas? Chicks Dig Fracking takes them all on.

“There are so many voices out there, but I wanted one that was fun, approachable, and appealing to a broad range of audiences while still focused on the facts and issues facing the oil and gas industry,” Fakharzadeh added.

With much of the misinformation out there today aimed at women, Chicks Dig Fracking seeks to get the right information out there. As anti-fracking activists go for emotional arguments and scare tactics (it’s going to hurt your kids!) which hit home with women, it’s important for women to understand, said Fakharzadeh, “how important energy development is to their communities, from tax dollars to fund schools, community development, and jobs, we have to find a middle ground.”

She is working from a “desire to build a community and educate. I want to challenge people to think outside their own (mis)perceptions and be willing to engage in the conversation that, truly, is going to impact the futures of every individual in this country.”

Fakharzadeh is evidence that energy isn’t just a boys’ club, although it is often perceived as such. “When I joined the energy industry,” Fakharzadeh told FreedomWorks, “I had an image in my head that I would be in a world run by men that were somewhere between JR Ewing and Yosemite Sam.” It was refreshing for her to find out that this image of the oil industry was incorrect.

“I’ve never been in an industry where women garner more respect and support than in the oil and gas industry. In many ways, women are becoming the future of this industry as the opportunity grows,” and that is because women are treated as equals. “my ability to do my job successfully and grow in my career is not because of or in spite of the fact that I’m a woman; it’s because I’m a driven professional focused on the success of the whole… This industry is a diverse, committed, and passionate part of our communities; many people simply don’t realize how critical it really is.” Energy is an issue that touches every American, as does the way in which energy is treated.

“I believe we are at a critical stage in our country; anyone who has read Atlas Shrugged probably shares in the creeping sense of alarm about the policies and programs that are forming the future of what our country could become. At my deepest core, I truly believe that now, more than ever, we need to rattle the cages of the American people and wake up…we need to challenge the media to become a true, non-biased source of information,” Fakharzadeh said, “We need to challenge our fellow citizens to stand up for our beliefs, challenge each other through intellectual debate, and strive for an ever improved future…I guess deep down, I hope that Chicks Dig Fracking, in its own little way, can be a part of that.”

Can you dig it?