As of April 24, 2014, Beverly Hills became California’s first city to stop all oil drilling activity, including fracking. Councilmen Josh Mirsch explained that the issue needs to be evaluated on a long term basis, stating how injecting massive amounts of water and chemicals at high pressure into the Earth is extremely unsafe. Recent studies by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Geological Survey linked fracking to pollution and an increase in earthquakes. Governor Jerry Brown stated his approval and hope that other communities should follow their example. Despite the health concerns connected with fracking, the California Department of Conservation maintains that “hydraulic fracturing has been used as a product stimulation method for more than 30 years with no reported damage to the environment.”

This article demonstrates the controversy within state government involving fracking. On one end of the spectrum, government agencies prove the correlation of fracking with the unsafeness of water and air quality in California, while other agencies maintain their initial stance that fracking does not have an effect on the environment. Such controversy only heightens the importance for environmental scientists to accurately evaluate the impacts of fracking.

O’Connor, L. (2014, April 24). California City Becomes First To Vote To Ban Fracking. The             Huffington Post. Retrieved September 8, 2014, from <>

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/24/beverly-hills-fracking-ban_n_5208377.html<>