Can California Successfully Ban Fracking and Oil Extraction by 2024?

The governor of California has proposed a ban on new fracking licenses and an end in all oil production by 2045.

California, the most populous state in the United States, produces the third most oil in the world. That will be the first state to stop extracting all resources.

Executive Order

Gavin Newsom's executive order, signed on Friday, paves the way for California to cease issuing new drilling licenses in the coming years, granting the state's Department of Conservation until 2024 to draft a mandate. The order further instructs the California Air Resources Board to study how to enforce a 25-year moratorium on all mining.

The organization will research the environmental and health benefits of stopping oil production and ways to minimize the economic impact.

In a tweet, Newsom said, "The climate crisis is real, and we continue to see the signs every day." "I've made it clear that I don't see fracking playing a part in the future and that California, like the rest of the country, wants to move past oil."

Newsom's decision is a bold move after previously opposing demands to impose a narrower ban on new drilling licenses. Fracking accounts for just around 1% of the state's total oil supply.

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Fracking

The controversial extraction process extracts fuel from the field by using water and chemicals to break open natural structures and trigger gas or oil leakage, posing the possibility of earthquakes, water pollution, and catastrophic spills.

Fracking and other forms of mining are harmful to people who live near drilling facilities, causing a higher incidence of asthma, cancer, and preterm births.

Newsom's decision comes as he prepares for a possible recall referendum, as well as pressure from environmental activists, who have criticized his support for wider regulations banning fracking in recent months.

Last week, a bill that would have placed stringent limits on oil and gas failed to receive the five votes expected to pass the California senate's natural resources committee. The bill would have needed a 2,500-foot buffer zone between construction facilities and classrooms, playgrounds, and homes, as well as a ban on new fracking permits.

7.4 million Californians live within a mile of oil and gas drilling, with low-income and minority neighborhoods bearing the brunt of the damage.

"The health assaults of oil and gas extraction must be addressed immediately," said Martha Dina Agruello, executive director of Physicians for Social Responsibility.

Revising the Bill

To that end, conservation advocates are now negotiating with legislators to pass a revised version of the bill that centers on establishing a boundary between new and permitted fracking sites and areas where children live and play. According to Ress, advocates are now requesting that the governor issue an emergency law requiring that filling sites be at least 2,500 feet away from towns.

Other States

Texas, Wyoming, Louisiana, Maryland, Illinois, Colorado, and Pennsylvania, among other oil-producing states, have laws limiting how near sites will be to cities.

Criticizing Fracking

In recent years, oil and gas extraction in California has come under increased scrutiny. Researchers believe the state will need to double down on measures to curb greenhouse gas pollution. It faces increasing droughts, rising sea levels, historic wildfires, and lethal heat waves as it grapples with the climate crisis.

Despite Newsom's two-year-old stricter restrictions on the oil and gas industry, the Center for Biological Diversity claims that the California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) has proceeded to grant fracking licenses without adequate environmental scrutiny. CalGEM granted 213 drilling licenses in 2019 and 82 in 2020, and almost 2,000 combined permits for new oil and gas wells issued last year.

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