Los Angeles, April 23, 2021 (AFP) – California Governor Gavin Newsome announced on Friday that he plans to ban hydraulic fracturing, a method of extracting hydrocarbons with a strong environmental impact starting in 2024, The purpose of which is to stop completely slowly. Oil by 2045.
California, the most populous state and one of the main oil producers in the United States, will be the first to stop all extraction.
The ban on hydraulic fracturing, which represents about 2% of the state’s oil production, will be implemented by the local Natural Resources Management Agency, which will cease issuing new licenses by January 2024.
With this measure, Governor Newsom asked the agency to examine ways to monitor air pollution “gradually cease oil drilling across the state by 2045,” his services said in a statement.
The goal is tied to California’s efforts to combat climate change, including the goal of achieving “carbon neutrality” by 2045, and Newsom’s decision to ban the sale of new vehicles by 2035.
“The climate crisis is real and we continue to see signs of it every day,” the Democratic governor warned.
“As we are moving rapidly to reduce our transportation sector and create a healthier future for our children, I have made it clear that I have not seen the utility of hydraulic fracturing in the future and likewise, I believe That California should be able to move was after the oil, “explained Newsome in the statement.
The governor had previously stated that he had no power to ban hydraulic fracturing, but that there was heavy pressure on environmental activists.
Hydraulic fracturing, also known as “fracking”, involves the extraction of underground oil and gas by injecting high-pressure fluids to fracture rocks.
The region experienced a lot of growth in 2000 and 2010, making the United States the world’s largest oil producer since 2014.
The environmental and health costs produced by this method are increasingly documented, including consequences for the health of residents, particularly earthquakes with consequences for asthma or cancer, and high levels of air pollution around farms.
Methane leakage into the atmosphere, in turn, reinforces global warming.
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