14 DAY TRIAL // Thousands of people gathered in the city of Sacramento in California this past Saturday to protest fracking, and word has it that this rally was the largest of this kind to have until now taken place in said state.
Media reports say that the protest was organized by green group Californians Against Fracking, together with members and supporters of about 80 environmental and health organizations.
All in all, about 2,000 people took part in it, and they all had one thing on their mind: convince California Governor Jerry Brown to ban fracking.
For those unaware, fracking, otherwise known as hydraulic fracturing, refers to the practice of injecting massive amounts of water in the underground in order to break up gas and oil deposits and be able to better exploit them.
What environmentalists are worried about is the fact that the water used in fracking is not clean, but mixed with several chemical compounds. Hence, it is said to constitute a threat not only to the environment, but also to public health.
Besides, there are many who claim that, by toying with gas and oil deposits in this manner, companies in the fracking industry up the chances that earthquakes occur in the regions that they are busy exploiting.
These are the reasons why the over 2,000 people that rallied in Sacramento, California this past Saturday wanted Governor Jerry Brown to institute a ban on fracking activities in this state without delay.
“We don’t want your fracking turning all our water brown, Take your freakin’ frackin’ drills or we will shut you down!” a group of grandmothers taking part in the protest said, as cited by Eco Watch.
“Governor Brown has positioned himself as a climate champion, and we want to make it clear that as he decides whether to green light a massive expansion of fracking in California, his legacy is on the line,” added rally organizer Zack Malitz.
Interestingly enough, this protest followed the release of a report saying that, by fracking in this state, oil companies are making the region more vulnerable to earthquakes.
The scientists behind this study say that, courtesy of its active fault lines, California is more likely to be negatively affected by hydraulic fracturing than other states are.
“This isn’t rocket science. We’ve known for decades that wastewater injection increases earthquake risk. Since Gov. Brown resolutely refuses to learn from other communities’ experience with fracking across the country, our only option to protect California families is to prevent fracking altogether,” Rodrigo Romo, one of the report's authors, said in a statement.