Tell California: Say No to Fracking

"Fracking," or hydraulic fracturing, is a dangerous drilling technique that endangers our state's water, air, wildlife and public health. And yet, California regulators don't currently track when or where fracking is occurring, let alone protect California from its many dangers.

More than 1,000 documented cases of water contamination across the country have been associated with fracking. California officials, in response to public concern, have issued draft regulations to govern fracking, but the proposed regulations would keep fracking shrouded in secrecy and do almost nothing to protect our air, water or climate.

The best way to protect California is to ban fracking now.

Please use the form below to ask the California Department of Conservation, which is charged with overseeing oil and gas drilling, to impose a ban on fracking in California before irrevocable damage is done to our state and the natural resources we all value.

Subject:

Your Letter:

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the draft regulations for fracking in California.

Fracking is a dangerous method of oil and gas extraction that has been associated with more than 1,000 instances of water contamination around the country. We have the opportunity to avoid the environmental damage that fracking for oil and gas has caused in other states, but it won’t happen with the state's proposed regulations. In order to protect California from this dangerous practice, I ask that you replace the draft regulations with an immediate ban on fracking.

The department's proposed regulations provide little or no protection for our air, water and climate. They do nothing to protect people living near fracked wells from air pollutants linked to cancer and respiratory illness. They do not protect residents from exposure to, or contamination by, the large volume of toxic wastewater fracking produces -- including spills into rivers and streams. In addition, fracking undermines our state's greenhouse gas reduction goals both through the release of methane during drilling and from the combustion of the fossil fuels produced.

Fracking also threatens our wildlife. Endangered species like the California condor, San Joaquin kit fox and blunt-nosed leopard lizard live in places where fracking will likely proliferate. These animals can be harmed in many ways by fracking and the industrial development it creates.

Other states are becoming increasingly concerned about the risks posed by fracking. New York, New Jersey and Vermont have enacted bans or moratoriums. California should follow their lead and ban fracking to ensure the protection of our environment and health.

Thank you.

Your letter will be sent to the following recipient(s):

Director Mark Nechodum

California Department of Conservation
801 K Street, MS 24-01
Sacramento, CA 95814

*Fields marked with an asterisk are required. Please take action by June 15, 2013.

Photo of fracking rig courtesy Flickr/Jeremy Buckingham.

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