Updates
November 10, 2016: oops! I may have misread the importance of this story. I did not think the story was that big a deal, but it appears the story "may have legs," or at least it may have some marginal interest to some folks.
The Wall Street Journal found this story interesting enough to do a story on it before the voting took place.
SALINAS, Calif.—The movement to ban fracking is winning victories across the U.S. Yet the campaign has largely failed to win where it matters most—in places oil and natural gas are produced.
A Nov. 8 ballot measure will test that pattern in Monterey County, famed for its farms and scenic coastline.
Two counties bordering Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz, have banned fracking, although neither has a sizable oil industry. Monterey’s San Ardo oil field has been churning out crude for nearly 70 years, and the county has no ban.
Original Post
Voters in California’s Monterey County passed a ballot initiative Tuesday to ban hydraulic fracturing in the county, a vote which may shut down all oil production in the coastal county after roughly 70 years there.
Voters approved the initiative, known as Measure Z, which will ban the use of fracking and other high-intensity methods of oil and gas extraction, such as acid stimulation, prohibit new oil and gas operations in the county and phase out operational oil and gas wells.
The measure was approved by a vote of 40,332, or 55.8%, to 31,949, or 44.2%.
The approval of the ballot measure Tuesday marked the first time a US county with relatively significant oil production has voted to ban fracking. Monterey County’s San Ardo field has produced, on average, 21,900 b/d of crude this year, about 4.4% of California’s overall 499,000 b/d of onshore production.
The measure was expected to be challenged by industry in court.Bottom line: a pittance. 4.4% of California's 500,000 bopd of onshore production.
Wow, this brings back great memories. Monterey County is on the south side of Monterey Bay. Santa Cruz County is on the north side of Monterey Bay.
I studied biochemistry at UC-Santa Cruz during my college years. What an incredible story. What incredible memories. Pebble Beach is in Monterey County. At that time, many decades ago, for about $10, one could drive through the golf course -- a scenic tour -- I don't know if one can still do that. Carmel-by-the-Sea is also in the county, the seaside town that Clint Eastwood was mayor for one term, 1986 - 1988. I was in the USAF those years, stationed in Germany and England.
If they want to ban drilling for oil there, that's not the end of the world. Life will go on.
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