California governor seeks ban on new fracking by 2024
SALINAS, Calif. (KION) A halt on all new fracking permits in California could be seen within a few years.
That is what Governor Gavin Newsom wants to see in California starting in 2024, using his executive powers to take on the state's influential oil and gas industry.
The announcement was made on Twitter while the governor was attending the reopening of Highway 1 at Rat Creek in Big Sur early Friday.
"We have to do more and do better to get under the hood and to address the underlying causes as to why we're experiencing these heat domes and why we're experiencing more frequency and intensity in terms of our weather patterns," said Governor Newsom.
Earlier this week, Newsom did declare an emergency drought for two California counties. Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is a process of taking out oil and gas from rocks deep underground. It accounts for only a small percentage of the state's oil and gas production every year, but environmental groups have long claimed it is detrimental to nature and public health.
On top of all this, the governor has his eyes set on a bigger goal of ending all oil production in the state by 2045.
"If you're a governor who phases out California production, you must be a governor who supports crude oil from foreign sources that don't have our values, that increase green house gas emissions," said Cathy Reheis-Boyd, the president and CEO of Western States Petroleum Association.
“The climate crisis is real, and we continue to see the signs every day,” said Governor Newsom in a press release. “As we move to swiftly decarbonize our transportation sector and create a healthier future for our children, I’ve made it clear I don’t see a role for fracking in that future and, similarly, believe that California needs to move beyond oil.”
Oil companies are planning to fight the governor's plans.
"What he's done in this particular press release.. has outlined what we think is considered frankly unlawful," said Reheis-Boyd.
There are 30 million cars and trucks in California that still depend on oil and gas to run. The state hopes the development of zero-emission vehicles like electric cars in the future will help toward reaching the goals set out on Friday.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday he will halt all new fracking permits in California starting in 2024, using his executive authority to take on the state’s powerful oil and gas industry in a year he will likely face voters in a recall election.
Fracking — short for hydraulic fracturing, the process of extracting oil and gas embedded in rock deep underground — accounts for a small portion of the state’s oil and gas production each year. But environmental advocates have long sought its banishment because of its harmful effects on the environment and public health.
If successful, California would become the largest oil-producing state to ban fracking. But Newsom has his eyes set on a bigger goal of ending all oil production in the state by 2045. Friday, he ordered state regulators to come up with a plan on how to do that.
Last year, Newsom ordered state regulators to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars in California starting in 2035 — a move that preceded a similar commitment by General Motors.
“As we move to swiftly decarbonize our transportation sector and create a healthier future for our children, I’ve made it clear I don’t see a role for fracking in that future and similarly, believe that California needs to move beyond oil,” Newsom said in a news release Friday.
Newsom halted fracking permits in 2019 so an independent panel of scientists could review the state’s permitting process. He lifted that ban in April 2020. The state issued 83 fracking permits last year, down from an average of about 220 per year since 2016.
Still, environmental groups blasted Newsom for allowing fracking to continue at all. Newsom responded by asking the Legislature to ban it. A pair of state senators tried it, but their bill died in a legislative committee last week.
Newsom said Friday he will try to do it through the state’s regulatory process, which could take several years.
At one time, California was one of the largest oil-producing states in the nation, with a robust industry centered in the Central Valley just north of Los Angeles.
But in 2020, the state’s oil production fell to its lowest level in state history, down 68% from its peak in 1985.
