Received this e-mail today from CREDO Action regarding Governor Jerry Brown (D. CA) and fracking:
Yesterday, CREDO activists and our allies had a chance to directly confront Governor Brown and demand a ban on fracking at an event in San Francisco. And he may have signaled an opening for a reversal on his position in support of fracking and SB 4, the dangerous fracking bill he recently signed.1
Ironically, Brown was in San Francisco to ink a climate agreement with Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. We know Governor Brown is committed to action on climate change, which he yesterday described as "the world's greatest existential challenge."2
But from his statements yesterday, it seems like Governor Brown, who greased the wheels for expanded fracking in California by pushing for and signing SB 4, may not realize some of the basic facts about how bad fracking is for the climate. If he stands by what he said yesterday, he should put a moratorium on fracking.
Tell Governor Brown: Impose a temporary moratorium on fracking while you fully investigate the science behind fracking for oil production. Click here to sign automatically:
http://share.credoaction.com/...
In what might signal a potential reversal of his earlier position, Governor Brown’s remarks yesterday open the door for him to revisit his decision last month to encourage expanded fracking in California by signing SB 4.
At the press conference Governor Brown said he wanted to “give science a chance" before banning fracking and that California "is doing everything it can to reduce greenhouse gases and support a sustainable economy." 3
He also claimed that "The big issue is the Monterey Shale and nobody is talking about doing anything there for an extended period of time, and not before the environmental document [mandated by SB 4]" and that fracking has helped the environment by encouraging a switch from coal to gas.4
Governor Brown has clearly been misinformed by oil industry lobbyists, his aides or both. First of all, fracking in California is for oil, not gas. With methane leakage from gas drilling, gas is just as bad for the climate as coal -- but this (false) tradeoff doesn’t even apply in our state, since drillers are after oil. The truth is that oil companies are already fracking California, including drilling test wells and buying land leases to drill on the Monterey Shale.5 They aren't waiting for an environmental review. In fact, instead of putting fracking on hold until regulators, industry and independent experts prove that fracking can be done without harming public health or the climate, SB 4 specifically allows fracking to continue while the state studies fracking’s myriad dangers.
Many lawmakers who voted for SB 4 when it passed the California legislature did not know about this loophole specifically exempting fracking from review under CEQA. (CEQA is our state’s bedrock environmental law, which requires comprehensive environmental review and mitigation by state and local agencies.) They relied on the endorsements of Sen. Fran Pavley, the bill’s sponsor and longtime environmentalist, along with strong support from environmental groups like NRDC and California League of Conservation Voters (who abandoned the bill hours before the vote, but not in time to adequately inform legislators of their change of heart). This may not have been made clear to Governor Brown, either.
Tell Governor Brown: Impose a temporary moratorium on fracking while you fully investigate the science behind fracking for oil production. Click here to sign automatically:
http://share.credoaction.com/...
Our sources in Sacramento tell us that, despite public statements in the past by the governor and top staff that seemed to voice support for fracking, Governor Brown still hasn't really made up his mind on fracking and, indeed, is interested in understanding the science and impact on California. And from his remarks yesterday it seems likely he may believe that fracking is on hold while SB 4 puts environmental review in motion. But that is the opposite of what SB 4, as amended by the oil industry, does. Which is why environmental organizations that supported it, along with the LA Times, ultimately disowned the bill as passed.
Governor Brown and his staff need a wake-up call about fracking and SB 4. If he wants to see the science before fracking on the Monterey Shale commences, he needs to declare a moratorium now. And if he is making assessments on the climate impacts by comparing natural gas to coal production, he needs to be educated on the extractive industry plans in our state -- which is fracking for shale oil not shale gas.
There’s hope that Governor Brown, when turning his full attention and intellect to designing a responsible environmental policy for California, will see that it is completely inconsistent with being a climate leader to let Big Oil turn vast sections of California into toxic sacrifice zones so that it can get rich dumping carbon pollution into our atmosphere.
Tell Governor Brown: Impose a temporary moratorium on fracking while you fully investigate the science behind fracking for oil production. Click here to sign automatically:
http://share.credoaction.com/...
Zack Malitz, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets