Culver City residents vehemently opposed to hydraulic fracturing have found a friend in Sen. Bernie Sanders (D- Vermont).
The Democratic presidential candidate has called for a ban on the oil exploration practice, known as fracking. Hydraulic fracturing is an oil extraction technique used to obtain oil and natural gas in areas where those energy supplies are trapped in rock and sand formation by injecting a mixture of water and chemicals into the ground.
“The threat of methane emissions from fracking presents a profound danger to our climate,” the senator states on his website.
Rebecca Rona-Tuttle, who opposes hydraulic fracturing, said she supports Sanders anyway, but his stance on fracking endears her to him even more. “One of the most important things we can do for our county is to address climate change. And one of the means of doing that is to end fracking,” Rona-Tuttle said.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was declared the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee shortly before the California primary, has supported the practice, but has also called for “smart choices” in oil production.
Sanders has vowed to fight on to the Democratic Party convention in Philadelphia next month.
Dr. Suzanne De Benedittis also supports Sanders because she says his campaign has “exposed the corruption that’s taken over and diseased democracy. He is giving voice to countless Americans who are hell-bent on taking back our country. His campaign and our response is changing our nation and our politics.”
Former Ballona Creek Renaissance President James Lamm echoed Rona-Tuttle’s sentiments about his support for Sanders. “While I definitely appreciate Bernie Sanders’ position on fracking, I’m voting for him anyway for a lot of reasons,” he said.
De Benedittis, a resident of Culver Crest where its proximity to the Inglewood Oilfield has many residents worried about the consequences of oil drilling, said she hopes that those who have showed up in large numbers at Sanders’ rallies will do the same when Culver City holds hearing on hydraulic fracturing this year. “I pray [the City Council] stand in line with the same integrity that Bernie Sanders’ has demonstrated, that they enact regulations that truly protect us. May each council member’s vote show our citizens that she or he stands for our needs as human beings for an environment that sustains life,” she said. “I pray that none of our officials ever grovel in the rampant corruption of democracy or cower to fear or oil company threats.”
The Culver City City Council voted unanimously to ask state legislators to ban the practice in 2012. Two attempts by state Sen. Holly Mitchell (D- Culver City) — one as an assemblywoman — to outlaw fracking statewide failed to get out of the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee.
Gary Walker contributed to this story.