San Rafael Assemblyman Leads Fracking Moratorium Push

Freshman Assemblyman Marc Levine has been in Sacramento less than a year, but he's not waiting around for party elders to lead the way.

The San Rafael Democrat is spearheading an effort to put a stop to a controversial extraction of oil and gas known as "fracking."

Fracking involves blasting a combination of sand water and chemicals into the ground to extract oil and gas.Levine authored a letter demanding that Gov. Jerry Brown issue an executive order to halt the practice until environmental concerns are fully addressed.

Brown last year signed a bill regulating fracking that Levine believes is inadequate.

Levine's letter was co-signed by eight other Democratic assembly colleagues.

"The governor has the ability to enact a moratorium through executive order without the Legislature taking any action," Levine told reporters during a conference call on Tuesday morning in which his letter to the governor was made public.

"We saw how difficult it was for compromise in the Legislature on this issue, but there's still opportunity for environmental leadership in the executive branch."

Get Patched in:

Sign up for our newsletter|Like us on Facebook|Follow us on Twitter|Start a blog|Post an event | Post on the boards