California Gov. Signs Bill Limiting Oil, Gas Explorations

(Photo : Pixabay)

California will no longer allow firms that aspire exploration to national monuments and parks for oil and gas, according to a new law in the United States.

California Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed a bill that prohibits state agencies from allowing new oil and gas projects to be built on land protected by federal authorities. The prohibition—as stated in the law—will include parks, wilderness areas, and wildlife refuges. The bill, which was introduced by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, is in acknowledgment of federal actions to limit explorations on protected lands.

Assemblyman Muratsuchi, according to Associated Press, said the law sends a "clear message" to President Donald Trump that they will contend to secure these lands for current and future generations. President Trump, in December 2018, signed a proclamation removing over 720,000 acres of federal land in California to give way to oil and gas explorations. 

Newsom, in his official Twitter account, tweeted they would continue to pursue California's future free of fossil fuels and go against the Trump administration's agenda to develop oil extraction.

(Photo : Gavin Newsom's official Twitter account / Screenshot from Tiziana Piatos)

An attorney associated with the National Resources Defense Council praised the passage of the law and other environmental measures, which Governor Newsom signed.

"These bills are important steps toward prioritizing California's communities over the oil industry," Ann Alexander told the Associated Press. The attorney added they would be working to a "perfect California" that would not need to produce or use oil at all.

She noted that the governor and the legislature recognized the need to protect the needs of their citizens from threats that the oil industry poses to health and the environment.

Last year, California banned the State Lands Commission or local representatives from signing new permission to construct new gas and oil-related infrastructure on state tidal and other lands. Before the passage of the bill, the California Air Resources Board and California's Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources initiated an independent study of the climate and health pollution impacts from idle, deserted and abandoned wells. They discovered that the inactive gas and oil wells could discharge toxins, which could affect communities through climate change and other health impacts.

The study served as one of the powerful tools for lawmakers to conceptualize and pass such a bill that could improve local air quality and reduce climate change risks in California. 

Other Oil and Gas Bills

The bill was among several measures Newsom signed related to oil and gas development in California.

AB1328 requires two state agencies to study defunct oil and gas wells to measure if greenhouse gases, toxic air contaminants, volatile organic compounds, and other pollutants are escaping into the air.

Apart from protesting against Trump's plan to expand oil extraction in California, Newsom said in a news release that they would refocus the geological energy of the state to consider the wellbeing of his people and the safety of the existing oil wells in the state.

The Governor of California likewise also signed SB551. It mandates the gas and oil operators to work closely to the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources starting in July 2022 on the liability to stop the operations and likewise abandon wells and decommission other production facilities linking to the production of fossil fuels.