Cap-and-trade law tackles big polluters, fractures political alliances By
at 10:24 am
A sweeping climate proposal from Gov. Jay Inslee has both fractured existing alliances and sparked new ones â among activists and oil refineries alike â on its way to becoming Washington state law.
The divisive bill, now awaiting Insleeâs signature after passing the state legislature, puts a cap on how much carbon dioxide the stateâs biggest polluters can spew into the air and makes it more expensive for them to do so.
To keep burning the fossil fuels that both drive the economy and wreck the global climate, operators of major carbon emitters, including refineries, paper mills, and power plants would have to buy permits from the state or from each other.
by Seth Sandronsky, The Center Square | April 28, 2021 03:00 PM Print this article
Facing a recall vote in part because of the restrictions he put in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus beginning 13 months ago, Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom in an executive action recently ordered the state’s Department of Conservation’s Geologic Energy Management Division to initiate regulatory action to end the issuance of new permits for hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) by January 2024.
The governor also requested that the California Air Resources Board take a close look at “pathways to phase out oil extraction across the state by 2045 or earlier.
That’s headline-catching news, but is it really a big deal for California’s oil industry?
The bigger news is that Governor Newsom has also asked the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to evaluate pathways to phase out all oil extraction across the state by no later than 2045.
“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,” Governor Newsom said.
The latest action comes less than two weeks after a bill that would have banned hydraulic fracturing in California along with most other ways of extracting crude oil failed to pass the state Senate’s Natural Resources and Water Committee by one vote.
California Seeks to Ban New Fracking
Gov. Gavin Newsom is using his authority to take on the state s powerful oil and gas industry in a year he will likely face voters in a recall election.
Apr 26th, 2021
In this Jan. 16, 2015, file photo, pumpjacks are seen operating in Bakersfield, Calif. On Friday, April 23, 2021, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he would halt all new fracking permits in the state by January 2024. He also ordered state regulators to plan for halting all oil extraction in the state by 2045.
AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday said California will stop issuing fracking permits by 2024 and halt all oil drilling by 2045, using his authority to take on the state s powerful oil and gas industry in a year he will likely face voters in a recall election.
California Governor Wants Ban on New Fracking by 2024
Gov. Gavin Newsom said said California will stop issuing fracking permits by 2024 and halt all oil drilling by 2045, using his authority to take on the state’s powerful oil and gas industry in a year he will likely face voters in a recall election.
Newsom’s order is the beginning of a lengthy rule-making process that, if successful, would make California the largest state to ban fracking and likely the first in the world to set a deadline for the end of all oil production.
“California needs to move beyond oil,” Newsom said in a news release, arguing it would “create a healthier future for our children.”