But the pressure to exploit these resources isn’t going away anytime soon either, nor is the debate over the wisdom of doing so. As we weigh the pros and cons, a missing piece of the conversation is the land itself: What is the Monterey Formation? What is it made of and how did it get here? And what kind of habitats, plants, and animals live atop it?
Sarah Phelan
California’s New Fracking Law Divides Environmentalists
California’s new fracking law is the first of its kind in the nation to regulate this method of tight oil extraction.
Could fracking the Monterey Shale lead to the next Big One?
The Monterey Shale runs through some of California’s major fault lines. Could pounding the earth trigger the next Big One?
How the Monterey Shale came to be
There has been so much talk of a potential fracking boom in California. But how, exactly, did the Monterey shale formation become so valuable?
Fracking the land of the kit fox, and its fellow desert natives
What’s in store for the desert species who’ve come to rely on an undeveloped landscape now threatened by a California oil boom?
Above the Monterey Shale, farmers worry fracking will destroy the land
What happens when Big Oil meets small town California?
In condor country comes a California oil boom
California could be on the verge of a major oil boom centered a stone’s throw from the Bay Area. What does that mean for the landscape and the wildlife that call that place home?