Oil: California to ban hydraulic fracturing from 2024
Hydraulic fracturing involves extracting oil and gas trapped underground by injecting fluids at high pressure to fracture rocks, like here in Signal Hill, near Los Angeles, California.
AFP - FREDERIC J. BROWN
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Friday April 23 that he intended to ban hydraulic fracturing from 2024, a method of extracting hydrocarbons controversial for its impact on the environment.
It therefore intends to gradually stop all oil exploitation by 2045 at the latest.
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This is not a trivial announcement.
California is the most populous US state and also one of the major oil producers in the United States.
Hydraulic fracturing accounts for about 2% of California's oil production.
Its ban will be implemented by the agency responsible for managing the state's natural resources, which will stop issuing new permits no later than January 2024.
Along with the move, Governor Newsom has asked the agency monitoring air pollution to examine ways to "
phase out oil extraction statewide no later than 2045,
" his services said in a statement.
Which would be a first in the United States.
This objective is articulated with the efforts of California to fight against climate change, in particular to meet the objective of “carbon neutrality” of its economy by 2045 and with the decision of Gavin Newsom to ban the sale of new vehicles. heat engine by 2035.
Pressure from environmental activists
“
The climate crisis is real and we continue to see the signs of it every day,
explains the elected Democrat in his press release.
As we are moving quickly to decarbonize our transport sector and create a healthier future for our children, I made it clear that I did not see the usefulness of hydraulic fracturing in the future and, similarly, I believe California must be able to move beyond oil.
"
Governor Newsom had previously said he did not have the power to ban fracking but was under heavy pressure from environmental activists.
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To listen: California suspends the hydraulic extraction of gas and oil
Asthma, cancer and global warming
Hydraulic fracturing involves extracting oil and gas trapped in the subsoil by injecting fluids at high pressure to fracture rocks.
An industry that developed a lot in the years 2000 and 2010, making the United States since 2014 the world's leading oil producer.
The environmental and health costs are increasingly well documented: earthquakes on the one hand, and on the other hand, air and water pollution near farms, with health consequences for local residents, in particular. asthma or cancer.
Not to mention that the leaks of methane into the atmosphere reinforce global warming.
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See also: United States: Trump repeals regulations on hydraulic fracturing
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