We know that onshore and offshore hydraulic fracturing (fracking) for both oil and methane is damaging to our health, the environment, and California's wildlife. It's time to restore the federal moratorium on fracking.
On Tuesday September 6, U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald tentatively rejected a plan by the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to open more than 1,500 square miles of lands in Central California to oil drilling and fracking. He wrote in his ruling that the BLM failed to take "a hard look" at the environmental effects of the estimated 25 percent of new wells that would be devoted to fracking.
The petroleum extraction industry is also seeking new oil and gas deposits off the coast of California. If they find them, the companies will make every effort to set up offshore fracking operations as soon as possible. This is especially true since May 27, 2016, when the federal government lifted a moratorium on offshore fracking in the Santa Barbara Channel.