3 L.A. City Council Members Want California to Ban Fracking

"3 L.A. City Council Members Want California to Ban Fracking" by Reut Cohen for KCET, June 15, 2012:

The debate about hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a procedure that involves drilling thousands of feet below the earth's surface to extract oil and gas, has come to Los Angeles.

A resolution introduced Wednesday calls on Gov. Jerry Brown and California regulators to impose a moratorium on fracking until there is a "determination that such processes are safe for public health, for the Los Angeles water supply and for the environment."

Concerns about lack of transparency regarding fracking methods in the state prompted the resolution drafted by city councilmen Paul Koretz, Herb Wesson and Bernard Parks. California does not have any regulations on fracking.

"We've been looking into this for several months to see how fracking might affect Los Angeles," said Andy Schrader, Deputy of Environmental Affairs & Sustainability for council member Koretz. "There's transparency in other states, yet the Department of Water and Power, one of the fiercest defenders of Los Angeles' water supply, can't find out anything about it."

In California the fracking procedure is often used to extract oil. Supporters of energy independence argue fracking allows for tapping into the country's oil reserves and reduces dependence on foreign supplies. They also point to the United States' large reserves of shale gas which make up more than 30 percent of the country's natural gas supplies. A report released this week even projected that jobs in the industry, particularly to extract shale gas, are expected to grow by 2015.

However, environmentalists believe hydraulic fracturing may not be worth the risks...

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