Senator Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) reacted strongly to today’s Executive Order by Governor Newsom to ban new fracking permits by 2024 and his proposal to end all oil extraction by 2045. The fracking permit ban will have a devastating effect on the state’s economy and jobs, and our energy independence. The impact will be felt especially hard in the Central Valley, where almost all California’s oil and gas are produced.
Currently, California produces 460,000 barrels of oil a day, but imports three times that amount from foreign countries. In fact, the state consumes over 40 million gallons of gas and 10 million gallons of diesel a day as families travel to work, school and other daily activities.
“California’s oil and gas consumption has only been reduced by a miniscule amount in over 30 years. For the Governor to destroy these good paying jobs and import oil from countries with abysmal human rights and environmental records is completely irresponsible,” said Senator Grove.
In the last 20 years California’s foreign oil imports have tripled and the Governor’s ban on new fracking permits will only cause more reliance on oil and gas imports from foreign countries.
The state boasts some of the most stringent environmental regulations in the world, yet when oil and gas is imported from foreign countries such as Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, Columbia and Iraq their standards are nearly non-existent.
Just a century ago, California was the top oil contributing state in the nation, at one time producing 40% of all oil in the country. Now California is down to a fraction of what it once produced and production is steadily declining. Still, the industry supports more than 350,000 good paying jobs in the state. Governor Newsom’s termination of new fracking permits in the state will force tens of thousands of workers into the unemployment lines and make it harder for families to pay their bills.
Californians are not lowering their oil and gas consumption at a rate that can sustain using alternative energy. The ban on new fracking permits will cause more reliance on dirty foreign oil, hurt the economy and kill thousands of jobs across the state.