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NY Times “California May Drop Its Official State Rock, and Geologists Feel the Pain”

The Times is having fun at California’s expense–I get it. 

Having lived on both coasts, I know the joy New Yorkers feel laughing at the west.  Your article focused on the geology of the state rock.  But it ignored the politics.  In 1965, Serpentine was chosen the state rock for one reason, according to the then-Director of the CA Dept of Conservation:  “Serpentine indirectly is of great economic importance to California. It is a host rock for the state’s newest and most rapidly–growing mineral industry–asbestos, now bringing in several millions of dollars annually.”  Now that we know the deadly truth about asbestos mining, the devastation to workers and their families, how can we continue to honor the industry that perpetrated so much destruction?  The timing is not perfect.  California’s budget (like New York’s) is a mess.  But there is no bad time to do the right thing. 

DL, California Resident