California Governor Gavin Newsom set a deadline today to stop all oil extraction in the state – 2045, according to foreign media reports. In addition, he said he plans to ban fracking for oil by 2024. In a statement, he said, “As we rapidly decarbonize the transportation sector and create a healthier future for our children, I have made it clear that I do not see a role for fracking in the future, and likewise, I believe California needs to abandon oil.”
Newsom directed the state’s environmental department to stop issuing new fracking permits. However, it will undoubtedly be a very difficult job to stop all oil extraction. For now, he has asked the California Air Resources Board to analyze pathways in order to stop extracting new oil by 2045.
California is the fifth largest economy in the world, so its environmental goals are pivotal. “It’s important. If California were a country, it would be the largest oil-producing nation ever to announce an end to oil extraction,” Jonathan Gaventa, a senior associate at climate think tank E3G, wrote in a post on Twitter.
But others say Newsom’s ambitions aren’t big enough. “Phasing out drilling by 2045 is not enough. It’s 24 fire seasons away (from ending) and the situation is getting exponentially worse every year,” tweeted the Sunrise Movement, the Los Angeles chapter of the environmental group.
California has been at the forefront of developing ambitious climate policies in the past. Last year, California became the first state in the U.S. to ban the future sale of new internal combustion engine vehicles, and in 2018, former Gov. Jerry Brown set a statewide goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2045, meaning the state would not emit more carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, than it could offset or capture.
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