NOTE: This segment originally appeared on PBS SoCal.

Part I:

Part II:

California is currently the fourth largest energy producing state and is home to the Monterey Shale, an as-yet largely untapped resource that holds an estimated 63% of all oil reserves in the United States. California is also home to the Inglewood Oil Field in Los Angeles, the nation’s largest urban oil field. Not everyone believes that California’s abundant resources are a blessing, though.

EID recently appeared on PBS to debate the benefits of more home-grown energy in California with current and former elected officials and anti-fracking activists. The conversation ranged from the economic and environmental benefits of hydraulic fracturing, to the potential of the Monterey Shale to the pros and cons of the recently-passed S.B. 4, the strictest statute governing hydraulic fracturing in the nation.