This is my first Diary. The Sierra Club just emailed that the California Coastal Commission is holding hearings this coming Wednesday in Pismo Beach to discuss ongoing, secretive, fracking in the ocean off California's Central Coast. This is a very important issue and I RSVP'd that I will attend the meeting to learn more and to oppose fracking along our, relatively unspoiled, beautiful coast.
I well remember the Santa Barbara oil spills in the late sixties that devastated Santa Barbara's beaches and killed many birds and other animals. The spills led to strong opposition to more oil drilling along the Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties coastlines.
I recall later attempts to build oil servicing ports and pipeline corridors along our coasts that were defeated by local initiatives. We are surrounded by newly discovered recoverable Monterey Shale deposits that could lead to a lot of local inland fracking too in coming years that could despoil our environment on land and in our seashores.
Here is the body of the email:
Hi there,
After learning that hydraulic fracturing has been secretly occurring along California's coastline for years, the California Coastal Commission will announce the results of its investigation into this controversial and dangerous practice at a hearing this Wednesday. Ensure the commissioners know there is strong support to stop offshore fracking in California and protect the environment. Sign up to attend the hearing now.
I did!
Check it out here: http://action.sierraclub.org/...
Thanks!
Here are the details:
WHO: Friends, family, neighbors, activists, Sierra Club and you!
WHAT: Public hearing about fracking off of California's coasts
WHEN: Wednesday, February 12, at 9:00 a.m.
WHERE: The Cliffs Resort Hotel located at 2757 Shell Beach Road, Pismo Beach, CA 93449 [Map]
Questions: Contact Michael Thornton at michael.thornton@sierraclub.org.
Please come to the meeting if you are able to to oppose fracking of our seashore.
San Luis Obispo County turned down oil drilling in the rural Huasna Valley that probably would have included fracking if it had been approved and gone forward. The company that got turned down initiated a multi-billion dollar lawsuit against San Luis Obispo County as a result. I have not kept up with the news to know the current status of the lawsuit.
Now the news of about adverse effects from fracking in seemingly far off places like Texas, Pennsylvania, and the Dakotas is raising the specter that its damages may come to despoil our area. Out at sea and on land.
Please bear with me that I have not included more links to local news links, environment sites, or governmental sites.
I hope that Lois Capps our local US congresswoman or her representatives attend this Wednesdays Coastal Commission meeting. She is a staunch defender of our coast and has been very instrumental in blocking further expansion of drilling platforms on the Central Coast for many years.
I have been seriously concerned about offshore fracking since recent reports first brought it to light,” Capps said. “While we still know little about the impacts of onshore fracking, we know even less about impacts of offshore fracking. The inadequate oversight of these activities is unacceptable, and offshore fracking should be halted until we better understand their impacts.”
Capps also spoke out Tuesday against two oil drilling bills being considered on the House floor later this week.
The first, H.R. 2728, would prevent the Department of the Interior from enforcing any federal standards on hydraulic fracturing if a state has any rules or even unenforceable guidance governing fracking, no matter how weak or ineffective the state rules are. It would also interfere with the EPA's scientific study of the impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources by modifying the design and scope of the study more than two years after it was finalized.
Governor Brown, in my opinion, has opened the door to more California fracking.
The beautiful coastline is irreplaceable. Much of the coastline in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties has been preserved from development by expansion of California State Parks and by conservation easements. It is a big draw for local residents and for tourism too. Fracking on land or sea endangers it, our environment, our economy, our health, and our way of life.
Our air is relatively clean. Fracking the seashore and on land could seriously damage that. We also have limited local fresh water resources that are even more precious now in our current drought which may be brought on by global weirding. Fracking uses tremendous amounts of fresh water.
Recently whales and other sea life off our coast were in danger because of the "need" to map earthquake faults off our coast to better learn about them and the danger they present to the continued operation of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. There was local fear that another, unstated, reason for the explosive mapping was to discover more about off shore oil deposits.
The issue of the seismic safety of Diablo Canyon took a dramatic turn earlier this month when the state Coastal Commission denied a request by PG&E to conduct high-energy earthquake mapping offshore of the plant. Those surveys would have answered some of the outstanding questions about the Hosgri Fault.
The surveys would have provided some useful information but were not required by the NRC, Kammerer said. Low-energy and onshore seismic surveys already conducted by PG&E will provide a wealth of new information about the faults surrounding the plant.
Read more here: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/...
Again, if you can, please come to attend the Coastal Commission meeting in Pismo Beach this coming Wednesday to show your opposition to the continued fracking on our coast.