Article 2: “New Lawsuit in California vs. Trump, who seeks to tighten rules on fracking”

Hart, A. (2018.). New lawsuit in California vs. Trump seeks to tighten rules on fracking. Retrieved from https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article196426164.html

California, the third-largest oil producing state in the nation, sued the Trump administration to reinstate an Obama-like rule governing hydraulic fracking. In a lawsuit filed in San Francisco, state Attorney General Xavier Becerra argued the move by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to repeal regulations on fracking represents a threat to public health and the environment. Becerra says that “The risks of fracking to our health and to our environment are real … from the evaporation of toxic chemicals, to low level seismic events, to the contamination of our drinking water”, adding that repeal constitutes “federal overreach.”
The lawsuit seeks to regulate hydraulic fracking by protecting underground water aquifers, monitoring drilling chemicals and methods in an environmentally safe way. They also want fracking numbers to disclose used chemicals, which has been a majorly controversial issue due to the unknown amount or type of chemicals involved in the process. California disagreed with the shady and unknown policies used during the current fracking process, which is enabled due to their leverage. The lawsuit represents the escalating tension between two economic superpowers that have different views in terms of environmental protection, immigration, and health care.