FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Melissa Harrison, NRDC Action Fund, 202-513-6278, [email protected]
Online Ad Campaign Supports Senate Bill 4 to Strengthen Fracking Protections
WASHINGTON (August 19, 2013) The NRDC Action Fund is launching an online advertising campaign today in California to solidify support for Senate Bill 4 (SB 4), legislation that provides Californians with several critical protections against out-of-control fracking.
The digital campaign includes banner ads targeted in the following publications: Capitol Weekly, Capitol Morning Report, Sacramento Bee, Rough and Tumble, Cal Buzz and Rear Clear Politics. The ads will run from August 19 through September 15. The banner ads show a home with a gas rig in its backyard and link to an action page for Californians to email their state legislators to ask them to support of SB 4. Text includes:
My community—my right to know
Say YES to SB 4 to stop out-of-control fracking in our backyards.
Act now to protect our backyards
California is FAILING to protect people from fracking.
Tell your assembly member to vote yes on SB 4.
STOP out-of-control fracking
Fracking is happening in California now.
Together we can start protecting our communities.
Urge your assembly member to vote YES on SB 4.
“The provisions in SB 4 are urgently needed to start protecting families and communities from fracking that is already happening in California,” said Heather Taylor-Miesle, NRDC Action Fund Director. “The oil fracking boom is presenting new challenges to out-of-date state oil and gas regulations. Californians are already beginning to face impacts to our water, air, and infrastructure. We need our legislators to stand up and support SB 4 to better inform and protect us and our children. And while we urge them to do the right thing, we are also calling on Governor Brown to impose a moratorium on fracking so that we can fully evaluate the risks associated with this heavy industrial activity.”
In the absence of state or federal laws, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the c3 affiliate of the NRDC Action Fund, has been leading community-level work in California. While the fight for a moratorium in the state continues, immediate protections are urgently needed, as companies are already fracking in California communities and looking to expand across the Monterey oil shale formation, which spans much of the state. SB 4 addresses several of the most urgent threats that fracking poses to public health and the environment—including ensuring the public’s right to know about fracking in their communities and throughout the state—providing a solid foundation to build upon.
SB 4 has already passed the California Senate and now sits in the California State Assembly awaiting a hearing before the appropriations committee and then final floor votes in both houses. If enacted the legislation will:
- Require notification of fracking and other well stimulation activities to the state and to neighboring property owners and tenants;
- Require the disclosure of chemicals used in fracking and other well stimulation activities;
- Create a new permitting process for fracking and other well stimulation activities;
- Require an independent scientific study to evaluate the risks and potential hazards that fracking and other well stimulation treatments pose to natural resources as well as public, occupational, and environmental health and safety;
- Require operators to conduct baseline water testing and have a groundwater monitoring plan and wastewater disposal plan in place before fracking or well stimulation activities may commence;
- Require operators to identify any seismic faults within or near the fracture zone of the fracking or well stimulation activity;
- Require state agencies to enter into agreements clearly delineating respective authority, responsibility, and notification and reporting requirements associated with fracking and other well stimulation activities; and
- Require the state oil and gas agency, to adopt fracking regulations that include these requirements and more on or before January 1, 2015.
A June poll by the Los Angeles Times and the University of Southern California found that more than seven in 10 voters say they want fracking more heavily regulated or banned outright. In addition, recent public opinion research in California by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) shows a majority of Californians support implementing stronger fracking protections. According to the PPIC polling data, “As state legislators debate stricter regulations on fracking—already under way in California—51 percent oppose increased use of the drilling method used to extract oil and natural gas (35% favor it, 14% don’t know).” When asked whether they favor or oppose stricter regulation of fracking, 50 percent say they are in favor. Among those who favor increased use of fracking, 62 percent also favor stricter regulation.
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The NRDC Action Fund’s mission is to grow the environmental majority to achieve the passage of legislation that jump-starts the clean energy economy, reduces pollution, and sustains vibrant communities for all Americans. Now is the time for leadership and action from our elected officials — our current goal is a comprehensive clean energy policy that will repower our economy and fuel our future. www.nrdcactionfund.org
Note to reporters/editors: The NRDC Action Fund is an affiliated but separate organization from the Natural Resources Defense Council. As a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, the NRDC Action Fund engages in various advocacy and political activities for which the Natural Resources Defense Council, a 501(c)(3) organization, faces certain legal limitations or restrictions. News and information released by the NRDC Action Fund needs to be identified as from the “NRDC Action Fund.” The “Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund” is incorrect. The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the NRDC Action Fund can not be used interchangeably. Also please note that the word “National” does not appear in Natural Resources Defense Council.
