Speakers will include:
Doug Shields, former member of Pittsburgh, Penn., city council, featured in the film, "The Sky is Pink";
Shannon Biggs, director of Community Rights with Global Exchange, who will talk about community rights initiatives;
Andrew Grinberg, Oil and Gas Program Coordinator of Clean Water Action, who will talk about water issues and new proposed state fracking regulations;
Speakers from Chico Community Rising Against Fracking and BEC, on concerns of what local fracking for oil operations may cause to the surrounding agricultural economy.
Also, there will be a showing of "The Sky is Pink," a film by Josh Fox as a follow-up to his Oscar-nominated "Gasland," about misinformation from the hydralic fracking industry.
rdifalco on 09 Apr 14A majority on the Butte County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to draft an ordinance that would ban fracking, a step that could place this county at the vanguard of a grass-roots movement to halt the practice. In a surprisingly unscripted move, the supervisors voted 4-1 to consider a comprehensive fracking ban after county staffers research how best this can be done. The vote was applauded by dozens of anti-fracking activists, many of whom had spoken in favor of the more moderate measure that was on the agenda - a recommendation the county amend its zoning code to ensure local oversight of fracking projects. Some speakers at the Tuesday meeting, though, said they weren't confident the state has the resources or will to protect local aquifers and air quality from fracking operations. And Robyn DiFalco, executive director of the Butte Environmental Council, warned that new drilling techniques are making "smaller pockets" of gas - like those in Butte County - "more viable." "With a price shift there could be a boom here," DiFalco said.
