California Rejects 109 Fracking Permits Prior to 2024 Ban

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Reason Why California Regulators Rejected the Permits 

 Since February, California authorities have refused to authorize licenses for the controversial oil and gas extraction process referred to as fracking, effectively getting rid of the process prior to Gov. Gavin Newsom's 2024 deadline to put a stop to it. 

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the state's Geologic Energy Management Division, or CalGEM, has rejected about 109 fracking permits this 2021.

Since California started allowing fracking in 2015, this year's denials is the highest in a single year. Fifty of the permits, with majority from Bakersfield-based Aera Energy, were refused purely due to worries about climate change.

In response to an Aera letter, state oil and gas supervisor Uduak-Joe Ntuk said he couldn't grant the permits due to the more urgent climatic repercussions of fossil fuel production and the continued implications of climate change on public health and natural resources 

Newsom, a Democrat, proposed for a ban on the process by 2024 in a 2020 legislative proposal. However, a legislative proposal failed, prompting Newsom to authorize CalGEM to continue with the schedule on its own.

Aside this, he also wants to phase down oil and gas production in California by 2045, long after he retires. The Western States Petroleum Association and Kern County, which has the most fracking in the state, have sued the state over the rejections.

WSPA claims that state law compels CalGEM to allow fracking if it fulfills technical criteria, and that the rejections amount to a de facto ban on the practice that hasn't been authorized by the legislature.

A hearing in the Kern case is set for Monday, and the state has until December 2 to reply to WSPA's complaint.

Also Read: Permian Fracking Will Unleash 40 Billion Tons of CO2 by 2050 if Not Prevented

Why is Fracking Considered an Environmental Threat? 

Fracking is the process of pumping a high-pressure mixture of primarily water, sand, and chemical additives into rock in order to generate or enlarge cracks that enable oil and gas extraction, according to Fox Business.

In California, permitted fracking activities account for just 2% of total oil output. However, the method is divisive owing to fears that the chemicals used in fracking fluid may contaminate groundwater.

A number of environmental justice groups representing low-income areas and people of color have objected to fracking because of its potential water pollution and the methane generated by the process. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that has the potential to contribute to global warming.

Results of Permit Denial

By refusing the permits, Juan Flores, a community activist with the Center on Race, Poverty, and the Environment in Kern County, said Newsom and his administration are living up to voters' expectations.

WSPA President Catherine Reheis-Boyd told the Chronicle that these measures don't actually bring the beneficial advantages for a fight against climate change, but they do impose huge repercussions on Californians - on their income, their liberties, and basically, how they live and work every single day.

This year, CalGEM authorized just 12 fracking licenses, compared to 83 in 2020 and 220 in 2019.

Ntuk mentioned excessive heat, drought, and wildfires as examples of the threats posed by climate change in his letter to Aera, explaining why the state declined permission applications.

CalGEM, he claimed, must verify that the operations it oversees are in line with the state's environmental, public health, and climate change objectives. 

Related Article: The Pros and Cons of Fracking

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