( October 28, 2026, 9:45 AM EDT) -- BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — A California state court judge issued a tentative ruling in three consolidated cases holding that the California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) improperly implemented an “underground ban” of fracking beginning in 2021 and in 2024 adopted a rule-based ban without “substantial evidence” that such a ban would reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions but denied the petitioners’ requests for declarations approving their fracking-related applications....