![]() Kathy Miller, an Aera spokeswoman, did not respond to an email seeking comment. He said a 2014 law that gave the agency permitting power over fracking does not require the state to approve permits even if applications are complete. He argued that CalGEM must ensure the activities it regulates match the state’s environmental, public health and climate change goals. In his letter to Aera explaining why the state denied permit applications, Ntuk cited extreme heat, drought and wildfires as examples of the dangers caused by climate change. These actions “don’t really deliver the positive benefits for a fight against climate change, but what they do is impose big impacts on Californians - to their finances, to their freedoms and, essentially, how they live and work every single day,” WSPA President Catherine Reheis-Boyd told the Chronicle.ĬalGEM has approved just 12 fracking permits this year, down from 83 in 2020 and 220 in 2019. WSPA said in its lawsuit that the state’s permitting process includes stringent requirements designed to protect public health and safety. ![]() “This is a type of action that we expected,” he said. Juan Flores, a community organizer based in Kern County with the Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment, said by denying the permits Newsom and his administration are living up to expectations set by voters. Methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas. But the practice is controversial due to concerns about the chemicals used in the fracking fluid contaminating groundwater.Įnvironmental justice organizations representing low-income communities and people of color have protested fracking for its potential water contamination and the methane released by the process. The litigants claimed that the restrictions discriminated against the unvaccinated and violated the freedom of citizens, as well as the rights of business owners. Permitted fracking operations account for just 2% of oil production in California. Since South Korea began banning unvaccinated people from entering restaurants, cafes, shopping malls and other crowded places, a flurry of lawsuits has followed. 2.įracking is the process of injecting a high-pressure mix of mostly water with some sand and chemical additives into rock to create or expand fractures that allow for the extraction of oil and gas. WSPA’s lawsuit, filed in October, argues state law requires CalGEM to permit fracking if it meets technical requirements and that the denials amount to a de facto ban on the process that hasn’t been approved by the Legislature.Ī hearing in the Kern case is scheduled for Monday and the state must respond to WSPA’s lawsuit by Dec. ![]() Kern County, where most fracking in the state occurs, and the Western States Petroleum Association have sued the state over the denials. It’s only one piece of Newsom’s climate change agenda, which includes a complete end to oil and gas production in the state by 2045, long after he’s left office. But a proposal before lawmakers failed, leading Newsom to direct CalGEM to proceed with the timeline on its own. Newsom, a Democrat, called in 2020 for state lawmakers to ban the practice by 2024. ![]()
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