This month featured one of the dirtiest episodes yet of The California Frack Wars, starring the conservative, fossil-fuel funded Californians for a Safe, Secure Energy Future verse the local, grassroots organization Frack-Free Butte County.
The volunteers of Frack-Free Butte County have spent the last year gathering the 10,000 signatures needed to put a citizen initiative on the ballot to ban fracking in Butte County. With endless energy and a couple thousand dollars from an Indiegogo campaign, they reached their signature goal on June 1st.
A couple short weeks later, a law firm hired by Californians for a Safe, Secure Energy future swept in and disqualified the citizen initiative due to facial defects such as certain words not being in bold-face.
This is not Californians for a Safe Secure Energy Future's first effort to block the fracking ban in Butte County and spread misinformation around the state. Following Frack-Free Butte County's successful collection of signatures, Californians for a Safe-Secure Energy Future began funding an opposition group, Butte Citizens Against Higher Energy Costs. They have published articles like this one describing fracking bans as job-killers. A couple weeks ago, they accused the Center for Biological Diversity (which they describe as a fringe group) of spreading the lie that fracking may threaten public health. They have also claimed that the oil and gas industry follows strict federal, state and local regulations despite a recent analysis that found 100 violations of california fracking disclosure laws just in the past several months.
But the latest move in Butte County goes much further than publishing a misleading article. Allowing tactics like this one threatens the health and safety of our communities and the lifeblood of our democracy. The volunteers of Butte County are not politicians or professional activists. They are regular people who are worried about the dangers of fracking for their families and livelihoods.
The volunteers of Frack-Free Butte County
In their own words, Frack-Free Butte County's goal continues to be "to ensure Butte County's water supply is safe, clean, and abundant and to protect the County's agricultural legacy."
The citizens of Butte County followed the democratic process to protect the health and productivity of their communities. They deserve better than the dirty tricks of Californians for a Safe and Secure Energy Future.
