The New York Times: Concern over fracking’s effects on the quality of water supply has provided “the momentum for about a dozen local governments across California, the third-largest oil producing state, to vote to restrict or prohibit fracking in their jurisdictions.”

“At the same time, a bill that would declare a statewide moratorium on fracking has been gathering support in the State Senate, a year after a similar effort failed.”

“The anti-fracking bill in California, which faces an uphill battle, would not be the first: Vermont banned fracking in 2012, and New York and North Carolina have temporary bans while the states study the impact, which is what California proposes to do.”

“Besides the drought, seismic activity in March in Los Angeles — an earthquake with a magnitude of 3.6, followed by a 5.1 temblor in the course of one evening — has also given traction to fracking critics’ arguments that the procedure is simply too dangerous for California.”