Today, Governor Newsom announced that the California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) has issued new draft health and safety rules requiring that newly constructed oil and gas extraction sites must be at least 3,200 feet from California homes, schools, and public parks. This first of its kind draft rule is one of the longest setback distances in the nation, and will help guard Californian communities from toxic pollution from oil and gas wells.
Conservation groups sued the U.S. Forest Service today to stop exploratory drilling in California’s eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains that threatens an endangered fish and a dwindling population of bi-state sage grouse.
A new report released today by the Carbon Tracker Initiative illustrates the problem of millions of unplugged and abandoned oil and gas wells across the United States. Industry is obligated by law to plug and clean up most of these wells, but according to the report, Race to the Top, $250 billion is needed to address the scale of the problem, and many operators are in default and will be unable to meet their closure obligations.
Groups sued the Biden administration today for issuing a regulation that allows oil and gas companies to harass Southern Beaufort Sea polar bears despite the likelihood of causing injury and death.
Today, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously in support of a measure to begin the process of phasing out oil drilling on unincorporated Los Angeles County land
The Culver City Council voted 4-1 last night in support of an ordinance that will phase out oil production and require the cleanup of well sites in the portion of the Inglewood Oil Field within Culver City’s borders within five years.
Monroe, LA— Yesterday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Biden administration's pause on new oil and gas leasing on public lands and offshore. The court’s preliminary injunction, which applies to Department of the Interior leasing nationwide, harms efforts to rapidly transition the nation away from fossil fuels and stave off the worst effects of climate change, including catastrophic droughts, floods and wildfires.
LOS ANGELES -- Yesterday, over 1,600 gallons, or 40 barrels, of oil spilled in the Inglewood Oil Field when a shipping pipe was left open. The latest spill occurred just a few hundred feet from the Kenneth Hahn Park Playground.
BAKERSFIELD, Calif.— Community and environmental groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging Kern County’s adoption of an ordinance that would fast-track permitting for oil and gas projects and eliminate future environmental reviews and public participation.
Groups now look to state legislature to prevent irreparable damage to Kern communities and climate
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – March 8, 2021, the Kern Board of Supervisors voted to put the oil industry before the health and well-being of Kern communities by passing an ordinance that would add tens of thousands of new toxic wells over the next two decades, posing a grave threat to public health and causing irreversible environmental damage.
Washington, DC -- Today, Goldman Sachs announced a new commitment to align its financing activities with a pathway to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and committed to set interim climate targets by the end of this year. Goldman Sachs also indicated it would begin measuring and disclosing its financed emissions, though the announcement lacked further details on the bank’s methodology for doing so and its near-term steps for cutting emissions.
SACRAMENTO - Senators Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara) introduced Senate Bill 467, which halts the issuance or renewal of permits for hydraulic fracturing (fracking), acid well stimulation treatments, cyclic steaming, and water and steam flooding starting January 1, 2022, and then prohibits these extraction methods entirely starting January 1, 2027.