Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he has taken action to end the state’s issuing of new permits for fracking by 2024.
Newsom directed the state’s Department of Conservation’s Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) to take regulatory action to stop issuing new permits for hydraulic fracturing — also known as fracking — by January 2024 and also asked the California Air Resources Board to look into ways to phase out oil extraction across the state by 2045.
Newsom last September issued an executive order calling for an end to fracking and to accelerate the state’s transition away from fossil fuels.
“The climate crisis is real, and we continue to see the signs every day,” Newsom said. “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.”
The action was lauded by state legislators who had previously proposed a bill to ban fracking.
“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.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom
State Sens. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, and Monique Limon, D-Santa Barbara, thanked the governor for taking action. The pair’s bill, Senate Bill 467, called for a ban on new permits for fracking by 2022 but was voted down earlier this month by the state Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.
“While we believe an earlier end date is appropriate, at least having a set end date will trigger the long overdue conversation about what a transition away from oil looks like. To date, political paralysis has prevented that conversation from happening. We hope the governor’s action today breaks that political logjam,” the two state senators said.
The environmental groups Greenpeace USA and Center for Biological Diversity said Newsom’s move is significant but that more urgent action is needed.
Dr. Amy Moas, senior climate campaigner at Greenpeace USA, called it “an important first step” but said “it doesn’t do enough to address the increasingly urgent climate and public health crises facing Californians today.”
Kassie Siegel, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute, said, “We don’t have time for studies and delays. Californians living next to these dirty and dangerous drilling operations need protection from oil industry pollution today.”