Governor Newsom released a two-fold announcement today
to move towards a full ban on hydraulic fracturing
(fracking) by 2024 and study phasing out oil production in the
state. The Governor-directed Department of Conservation’s
Division of Geologic Energy Management (CalGEM) will initiate
regulatory action to end the issuance of new permits for fracking
by January 2024.
Under the directive, CalGEM will immediately initiate the
rulemaking to halt any new hydraulic fracturing permits by
2024. This action follows a September 2020
executive order calling for an end to fracking and
initiating an acceleration away from gasoline-powered cars
and trucks, and a reduction in demand for fossil fuels.
Governor Newsom also requested that the California Air Resources
Board (CARB) analyze pathways to phase out oil extraction across
the state by no later than 2045. CARB will evaluate how to phase
out oil extraction through the
Climate Change scoping plan, the state’s multi-year
regulatory and programmatic plan to achieve required reductions
in greenhouse gas emissions.
Inclusion of the target in the Scoping Plan means that phasing
out oil extraction becomes part of California’s blueprint to
achieve economy-wide carbon neutrality by 2045. CARB will
evaluate the economic, environmental, and health benefits and
effects of eliminating oil extraction.
