“This is the latest decision attacking the oil and gas industry that is based solely on politics rather than sound data or science,” Aera spokeswoman Cindy Pollard said Friday, adding that the company was evaluating its legal options.
“Banning hydraulic fracturing will only put hard-working people of California out of work and threaten our energy supplies by making the state more dependent on foreign oil,” she said.
Fracking involves injecting high-pressure water deep underground to extract oil or gas from rock. Critics say it can pollute groundwater and contributes to climate change.
“In the face of the effects of the climate emergency, the risks to everyday Californians are too high to approve these permits,” Ntuk said Friday in emails to the Bakersfield Californian and the San Francisco Chronicle.
Newsom administration denies fracking permits - a California first for climate change
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Aera Energy oils rigs in the South Belridge Oil Field in Kern County. The state denied the Bakersfield company 21 fracking permits, citing concerns for public health and climate change.George Rose/Getty Images
California state regulators have denied a string of applications to drill for oil using the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing, a move Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office described Friday as the beginning of the end for fracking in the state.
The 21 fracking applications, which sought new operations in the oil-rich fields of Kern County, were turned down Thursday because of what the California Department of Conservation cited as a need to protect public health and address climate change.
SACRAMENTO
California denied 21 oil drilling permits this week in the latest move toward ending fracking in a state that makes millions from the petroleum industry but is seeing widespread drought and more dangerous fire seasons linked to climate change.
State Oil and Gas Supervisor Uduak-Joe Ntuk sent letters Thursday to Aera Energy denying permits to drill using hydraulic fracturing in two Kern County oil fields to protect “public health and safety and environmental quality, including [the] reduction and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.”
Aera Energy, a joint venture of Shell and ExxonMobil, called the permit denials “disappointing though not surprising.”
California oil regulators deny issuance of 21 new fracking permits
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McKITTRICK, CA - JULY 24, 2019: Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday tours the Chevron oil field west of Bakersfield where a spill of more than 900,000 gallons flowed into a dry creek bed. Newsom state the state needs to be more aggressive on regulating oi
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. - California denied 21 oil drilling permits this week in the latest move toward ending fracking in a state that makes millions from the petroleum industry but is seeing widespread drought and more dangerous fire seasons linked to climate change.
State Oil and Gas Supervisor Uduak-Joe Ntuk sent letters Thursday to Aera Energy denying permits to drill using hydraulic fracturing in two Kern County oil fields to protect public health and safety and environmental quality, including (the) reduction and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.