To: Alameda County Board of Supervisors, Clerk to Alameda County Board of Supervisors
BAN FRACKING AND OTHER EXTREME OIL EXTRACTION IN ALAMEDA COUNTY
Board of Supervisors: Ban fracking in Alameda County
Why is this important?
Extreme oil extraction methods, including fracking, acidization, and steam flooding (collectively called "fracking" in this petition), are a threat to our water, air, jobs, and health, and add to global warming.
Why is this important?
Fracking (short for "hydraulic fracturing") is an extreme method of oil and gas extraction that involves high-pressure injection of vast quantities of fresh water, sand and toxic chemicals deep underground – endangering Californians' health, safety, and jobs.
Big Oil hopes to expand fracking in California, especially targeting the Monterey Shale formation, which lies under much of California including parts of Alameda County. Did you know there are already several oil wells in Alameda County?
In the last ten years, fracking has expanded rapidly in states like Pennsylvania, North Dakota, Texas, and Colorado. Residents living near fracking operations suffer from constant floodlighting at night and noise, endless diesel truck traffic, toxic spills, contaminated groundwater and streams, air pollution which sickens neighbors, increased crime, and falling property values.
If Big Oil gets its way, it could spell ruin for California farmers and vineyards. Appallingly, even in severe drought, Big Oil regularly outbids farmers for water rights in order to obtain the huge quantities of fresh water that fracking requires. And the toxic chemicals, heavy metals, and radioactivity associated with fracking operations often contaminate the soil, air, and water, sicken and kill wildlife, livestock, and people, and trigger earthquakes.
Despite the clear potential risks posed to Californians by Big Oil’s plans to expand fracking in our state, legislation in 2013 that would have placed a moratorium on fracking was subverted into a law to weakly regulate it, and Governor Brown appears eager to encourage the expansion of these toxic processes.
That's why we have to take matters into our own hands and ban fracking at the local level. Cities and counties in California have broad authority to ban the surface activities which support fracking, and it’s up to us to support our local officials stepping in where the state government has failed to protect us.
Local bans on fracking may also be one of the most effective strategies for winning change at the state level. A growing wave of cities and counties in California is rejecting fracking, which puts increased pressure on Sacramento to ban fracking in all the whole state.
Hundreds of communities across the country, from New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, to Colorado and New Mexico have successfully passed local bans or moratoriums on fracking in order to protect their water, homes, and health, and pressure state officials to act.
Now it's up to us: Even if you have signed other anti-fracking petitions, please sign this petition to ban fracking in Alameda County.
Why is this important?
Fracking (short for "hydraulic fracturing") is an extreme method of oil and gas extraction that involves high-pressure injection of vast quantities of fresh water, sand and toxic chemicals deep underground – endangering Californians' health, safety, and jobs.
Big Oil hopes to expand fracking in California, especially targeting the Monterey Shale formation, which lies under much of California including parts of Alameda County. Did you know there are already several oil wells in Alameda County?
In the last ten years, fracking has expanded rapidly in states like Pennsylvania, North Dakota, Texas, and Colorado. Residents living near fracking operations suffer from constant floodlighting at night and noise, endless diesel truck traffic, toxic spills, contaminated groundwater and streams, air pollution which sickens neighbors, increased crime, and falling property values.
If Big Oil gets its way, it could spell ruin for California farmers and vineyards. Appallingly, even in severe drought, Big Oil regularly outbids farmers for water rights in order to obtain the huge quantities of fresh water that fracking requires. And the toxic chemicals, heavy metals, and radioactivity associated with fracking operations often contaminate the soil, air, and water, sicken and kill wildlife, livestock, and people, and trigger earthquakes.
Despite the clear potential risks posed to Californians by Big Oil’s plans to expand fracking in our state, legislation in 2013 that would have placed a moratorium on fracking was subverted into a law to weakly regulate it, and Governor Brown appears eager to encourage the expansion of these toxic processes.
That's why we have to take matters into our own hands and ban fracking at the local level. Cities and counties in California have broad authority to ban the surface activities which support fracking, and it’s up to us to support our local officials stepping in where the state government has failed to protect us.
Local bans on fracking may also be one of the most effective strategies for winning change at the state level. A growing wave of cities and counties in California is rejecting fracking, which puts increased pressure on Sacramento to ban fracking in all the whole state.
Hundreds of communities across the country, from New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio, to Colorado and New Mexico have successfully passed local bans or moratoriums on fracking in order to protect their water, homes, and health, and pressure state officials to act.
Now it's up to us: Even if you have signed other anti-fracking petitions, please sign this petition to ban fracking in Alameda County.