State officials announced a regulatory proposal Thursday to prevent new oil and gas drilling wells and facilities within 3,200 feet of buildings like houses, schools, hospitals and nursing homes.
The proposal, issued by the state Department of Conservation’s Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM), is intended to reduce the numbers of adverse health conditions like heart disease, asthma and birth defects, which are more common for households near oil and gas drilling sites.
The proposal would also require pollution controls for drilling sites that already exist within the 3,200-foot “setback” area, equal to roughly one half-mile.
According to Gov. Gavin Newsom, roughly 30 percent of the state’s oil drilling sites sit within the 3,200-foot setback.
“The issue that really unites us here today is around the issue of justice — environmental justice, economic justice … social justice,” Newsom said during a briefing to announce the proposal. “It’s about public health. It’s about safety.”
Since 2019, CalGEM has held 10 public meetings and received more than 40,000 public comments on ways to improve the health and safety of communities that sit near drilling sites, which state officials used to draft the regulatory proposal announced Thursday.
CalGEM opened a 60-day public comment period on the proposal, after which it will begin analyzing the proposal’s economic effects.
The proposal will not become an official regulation until that analysis is complete and it has been submitted to and approved by the state’s Office of Administrative Law.
Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, lauded Newsom and his administration for the proposal’s limits for new drilling sites but remained measured about only implementing new health and safety standards for existing drilling sites that sit near residential areas.
Wiener and Sen. Monique Limon, D-Santa Barbara, co-authored a bill this year that ultimately died in committee, but would have prevented drilling at new and existing sites within 2,500 feet of a home or school.
“There are many thousands of Californians — disproportionately Black, Brown and low income — who live near existing oil wells and are already experiencing negative health impacts from this proximity,” Wiener said in a statement. “Their health matters, and we must step up for them.”
Newsom also touted the state’s other efforts to reduce its use of oil and expand the use of clean energy sources, including his goal of ending oil production in the state by 2045, but some environmental groups argued he has yet to go far enough.
Alexandra Nagy, director of the environmentalist organization Food and Water Watch California, praised the proposal for 3,200-foot setbacks and called it a victory for “communities on the frontlines of drilling.”
“(B)uffer zones between sensitive community sites and drill locations are a vital step in protecting Californians from the pollution and emissions of fossil fuels,” Nagy said. “But we know that there is only one way for Governor Newsom to truly protect Californians from the public health and environmental crises caused by fossil fuels: stop issuing oil and gas permits immediately.”
38 comments
Slant boring, this just makes oil extraction more expensive
..that will lead to higher gas prices.
What a Jackass
Can we drill for oil 3,000 feet from your house?
Yes, as long as I get a cut of the action. Chuq, Don’t cry about your higher energy prices in the future.
Well, California’s are getting what they voted for. They had a chance to dump this jerk but decided not to. More of this crap is coming from this crazy hypocrite.
Another step in his plan to go off the rails now that he didnt get recalled. The masses voted for him to get the green light on more things like this to drive up prices.
No problem, we’ll keep buying oil from Saudi Arabia and up the price of gas to ten bucks a gallon.
Why is it that every time a Dem politician opens their mouth, race is mentioned, and they are always disproportionate? Dems are obsessed with race, and the use of the word, “disproportionate.”
Newsom’s real plan is to get every Californian into electric cars and convert their home to electric. The electric appliance and electric vehicle manufactures must be putting an awful lot of money into the pockets of Dem politicians.
California is having a difficult time as it is keeping the lights on, but don’t worry, PG&E is washing their poles.
Perhaps not so much a problem here, but there are oil wells all over Los Angeles near homes, schools, etc. Many are hidden in plain sight.
I don’t think they are drilling new wells near homes, so perhaps this is just a feelgood measure?
Who gets hurt the most from these orders that our dictator keeps forcing on the people ? The poor and the working class . Gas will be so expensive here that it will leave less in the house hold budget for food , clothes and other necessities . Our house hold heating and cooling bills will rise because California will have to buy power from other states that use oil and natural gas to produce energy .Remember the Rich and the politicians like dictator Newsum and their kids will still have a wonderful life . You poor and working class people keep voting for liberal democrats , they will open a few more foodbanks to help you out .
“roughly 30 percent of the state’s oil drilling sites sit within the 3,200-foot setback”
I suspect for many of these that local communities allowed new homes to be built within 3200 feet of known oil fields.
Here’s a semi-zoomable map. https://maps.conservation.ca.gov/doggr/wellfinder/#openModal/-121.91075/37.94362/12
Unfortunately, when you zoom out it does not show the wells meaning if you are interested in an area you pan/scroll over and then zoom in to see if there are any wells and their location. Click on a well to see details about it.
Within 3200 feet? Hell, half of LA is build on top of old oil fields and there are pump jacks still operating within feet of homes.
This is for all of you non intelligent people that voted for this idiot.
Gas in Norway is $12 a gallon.
I think the grease ball is shooting for that.
He says it’s about pollution and the harm to poor families.
It’s more about getting votes for his 2024 prez aspirations.
It’s actually $8.404 a gallon but why let the facts get in the way of a good story.
https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/Norway/gasoline_prices/
JWB
You are correct. My information was wrong.
Even $8.40 a gallon is an outrageous price for gas.
That will do great harm to the good people of CA.
Newsom has only one goal.
To become prez.
How many current and future energy jobs will be eliminated? Did they bother to ask anyone in those affected communities as to their preference? Nope, they assume all those “Black, Brown, and Low Income people” are not smart enough to be consulted or have a valid opinion. Newsom & Weiner are a dangerous and arrogant combination. When they get together their collective IQ plummets and their delusions of grandeur skyrocket. It must be very satisfying for them.
@Spectator: yes, let’s ask people working in dying industries if they feel we should continue propping up those dying industries.
That’s how capitalism works.
@greg
Yes, let’s definitely ask the people working in the industries that the current administration is trying to destroy. Sorry, Greg, but not quite how capitalism works.
Hasn’t everybody noticed that almost every single issue the Dem politicians talk about always traces back to race? Oil wells. race. Green lawns, race. Voter I.D., race. Medical care, race. Education standards, race. Teacher credentials, race.
I mean doesn’t that give anybody pause to wonder what is really going on here? My goodness we are not all racists on ether side of the fence so why is race always the underlying, go to argument on nearly every issue?
R A C E is a “word” of pain in America, jprcards. That’s why the — Anti-American Socialist Dems use it. We know slavery had been around since the dawn of mankind… but here, in America, slow though we may have been at getting to it… we sacrificed nearly a million of our sons and brothers to the cause, and put an end to slavery and still strive daily to put shame to all forms of racism. And even now, the word alone holds the most painful barbs… like prison wire, livestock fences, a “word” we allow them to use to control us!
When they try to use “racism” against us —- we should smirk at the silly fools, turn our backs to them and get on with the business of being America.
First point: 3200 feet is roughly 6/10th of a mile…so that will take out a whole lot of potential oil wells. Second point: California taxes oil as it comes out of the ground, so the state will have a reduction in revenue. Third point: Will people who own oil wells/fields be able to stop housing construction within 6/10th of a mile of their property, or be compensated for harm? And finally: Does this constitute a “TAKE” as defined in the U.S. Constitution, making the state liable for compensating affected parties?
Since all electrical generation creates pollution or harms the environment in some way, I’d like to suggest that Democrats and anyone who votes for one be prohibited from purchasing gasoline or natural gas. They should also be prohibited from using any electricity produced by natural gas, coal, oil, etc…And then let’s tax candles big time.
Don’t windmills kill birds? What happens when it’s cloudy, rainy, snowy, dusty or at night? Who’s cleaning the solar cells?
Don’t solar farms take up land, making it unusable for farming? What’s taking the place if that now unusable farmland?
Don’t tidal generators harm fish?
Are all democrats now shutting off ALL of their gas appliances? Are all democrats now getting rid of their gas/diesel powered vehicles? Have they done so? If not, then then they have no reason to speak for getting rid of anything gas-powered. None at all.
If you are in favor of this I hope you turn off your heater this winter to help those facing increase in natural gas prices.
So are Biden and Newsom going to give us free gas. When I say us I mean the law abiding over taxed citizen who still work and are barely hanging on. The Democrats never change and continue to get worse. Biden cannot complete a sentence without losing it. So liberal socialist green party you are destroying America daily. You are taking control of the media and the supply chain. Voters wake up as you voted for these people. Like what you are seeing? The rest of us are ready to fight back and make America great again. This has got to stop.
Eight tracks didn’t die until cassettes made them obsolete. Then CD’s made records obsolete. Fossil fuel isn’t going anywhere until a viable replacement is perfected. And that hasn’t happened yet, not even close.
People like Newsom and his ilk, don’t give a tinkers cuss about climate change or fossil fuel. They care about money, and the best way to profit is to sell fear. They have a nice little franchise going: Californians are dumb enough to buy anything; time to pillage until there is no vegetable based meat on the bone………
With oil at $82 a barrel, now is an excellent time to invest……….
..all for publicity and supporting votes for him… nothing of substance as usual
Fossil fuel is on the way out anyway, so this is a reasonable step. Given that California has banned the sale of gasoline powered cars as of 2035, its probably a good idea to set a date to stop allowing new oil drilling anywhere in California. Many people have already shifted to electric vehicles and many more will do the same in the coming years. The EV cars will be charged by clean solar power and our environment will get better. There is also a ban on gasoline powered landscape equipment coming in 2024. We are making progress; slow but steady.
So small engine devices will be banned for sale in California; just buy them in Oregon, Utah and Arizona.
Democrats- have you sold or permanently shut off all of your gas-powered appliances and cars? If not, why not? Or do you enjoy being a hypocrite?
I have absolutely no interest in buying an electric car. If people want to lead the way in clean energy, it is their money, have at it. I guess I will drive my old, gas-thirsty V8, stick-shift, cars for as long as I can; because, there’s no reason to drive a car unless, I can indulge in pleasure. I will never, never, never,………..vote for another Democrat as, long as they keep pushing this progressive crap into my life.
Thanks for asking. I am transitioning to an all electric existence, but not all at once. I’m currently putting solar on our house and once we have that we are going to shift to electric heat, water heating, dryer and range. The oven is already electric. Eventually our PG&E bill will be zero and we will be consuming zero natural gas. We are buying one EV car that we will charge from the solar and try to use that vehicle as much as possible. Eventually we will have no gasoline costs, but it will take some time. It will be good to be i dependent from gas stations and utility bills. I’m not sure why everyone wouldn’t want that.
@Gary…”We” don’t want that because we’re all ignorant and stupid. It must be nice to be so special.
Gary…… ever hear of the year 536?
18 months without sunshine?
https://tinyurl.com/yr9yc386
We don’t need to go as far back as the year 536.
The year 1816 has been known as the year without a summer.
In summary, if a number of volcanoes erupt within a few years of each other then worldwide aggriculture production and solar power generation will drop. As we are switching more and more to depending on electricity for heating, and the world will be much cooler, the demand for electricity will go up.
Natural gas is widely available, easy to produce, and is more efficient than electricity for heating and cooking.
People with natural gas wall “old fashioned” wall heaters and standard tank water heaters are not affected by power outages.
The planet is switching to electrical power and utilities and individual end users are switching to solar. That’s not a fad that’s going to dissipate in a few years, it’s a trend that will continue to pick up speed and intensity. California is going to lead that advancement using policy shifts as well as consumer sentiment. The great news is that if you follow along, your costs will go down and your independence will increase. If you want to, you can completely decouple from PG&E and gas stations altogether. There is no way that these changes aren’t going to happen, none.
On this day today in a third world country, a child was born that 15 years from now will be tearing apart the battery from the electric car you are hoping to buy. He will use his bare hands, a crow bar, and a screwdriver while kneeling in dirt toxic with heavy metals. See films of the industry called ship breaking. Try YouTube for “The Chittagong Ship Breaking Yard” or any other at random.
Gary, . . . might want to research what happened last winter to Germany after their headlong rush to go green. ‘Energiewende’ Wind turbines 30,000 in number sat as wind dropped way off coupled with PV production cratering, forcing purchase of expensive natural gas from foreign sources.
Solar, do believe drops to zero with no sun. LA Times did a piece in April touting CA reaching 95% renewable energy, included a graph from CAL ISO. Today 24 Oct. renewables began climbing out ’bout 07:30, peaked 13:30 and began spiraling in around 15:30.
Electricity demand climbs beginning 05:00, levels 07:30, climbs again 14:30 and will peak at 19:00. Renewables haven’t reached even 1/4 of output capacity when first peak demand of day ends and begin sharply dropping toward zero at 15:30 as second peak demand period increases to it’s peak ’bout 19:00.
Suspect dark hours off peak usage has increased in past 15 years, large building AC creating large sinks of ice for use cooling during peak occupancy. Heavy industrial users switching hours of operation or having onsite power generation facilities built.
Then there’s hubris fantasy of “storing” of electricity using batteries. One tiny problem multitude of points of connection. A bad connection creates heat, if undetected can cause failure. An failure of equipment used in operation of grid battery storage could also contribute to a failure. These new batteries don’t like heat !
VBB down under had slight problem, fire that took three days to extinguish.
Then latest day glow fantasy, reducing use of natural gas by cities.
Heating of water and air by electricity, what problems might that create? New construction, larger incoming electrical conductors may be needed and larger transformers, will be needed.
An what might all electric do to peak demand ? ? ?
Could increased demand reduce gains seen from renewables forcing increased usage of natural gas for electrical demand ? ?
An efficiency when natural gas gives up it’s energy, say to heat air ? Forced air heaters sold today can have efficiencies of 95%.
Yet burning natural gas during generation of electricity do believe efficiency tops out at about 80% and can be as low as 60%.
CA’s biggest problem is ideas not being thought all the way thru, before becoming laws or edicts ! ! An too little consideration given to possible down side that could be created, by a Lemming like headlong rush to be most green. Then there’s that hand, palm up, behind the back just in case.
Consider the following,
Always keep this in mind,
To understand any problem in America,
Focus on who profits from the problem.
NOT who suffers from the problem.
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