Did you know that there was fracking going on in hundreds of locations around California, including some in nearby Monterey County? Well, there is, and a new report just came out about it, which includes the revelation that the state basically has no regulations at present around the practice of fracking, which has been known to cause small earthquakes.

Fracking — which involves the splitting of rocks deep underground using high-pressure, chemical-laden water to release natural gas or oil — has been shown to be a deeply environmentally hazardous practice where it's been happening across Pennsylvania, and CA fracking operations have been going largely under the radar. In PA, it's all about natural gas, but here it's mostly about oil.

Fracking has also been linked to small underground earthquakes which can sometimes be felt on the ground, and this of course has a few lawmakers starting to freak out. There was even a scare surrounding that East Coast earthquake last year that was centered in Virginia, suggesting it had been triggered by fracking, but that was later debunked by some scientists.

Anyway, it's an ugly word, and an ugly practice, and everyone should call their state senator now. Mark Leno's office can be reached at (415) 557-1300.

[Mother Jones]
[NBC]