Those of us advocating for a transition away from fossil fuels are growing a little weary of saying, “It’s a good start but we need much more,” but that’s pretty much the situation here, again. A fracking ban in California would be significant. However, it remains to be seen whether the governor will throw his full political support behind the legislative efforts, as his initial statements have underplayed the importance of a ban. The governor stated that only two percent of California’s petroleum production comes from fracking, and described a ban as “symbolic.” However, the two percent figure appears to reflect only the first part of 2020, following the fracking moratorium put in place in November 2019. A comprehensive study performed in 2015 found that the number is closer to 20 percent.
So a ban on fracking would be well and good and … well, a good start. But the elephant in the room around which the governor has carefully tiptoed is the highly polluting and vastly more prevalent method of extraction dominating California’s oil production: cyclic steaming. This practice, which some have begun referring to as “steam fracking,” essentially involves injecting steam underground to melt and force out the extremely heavy and viscous oil that is prevalent here. The process is an environmental catastrophe in multiple respects. From a climate perspective, cyclic steaming requires massive energy to heat up the stream, and produces heavy oil that takes more energy to refine, making the resulting crude some of the most carbon intense in the world, rivaling the Canadian tar sands. Additionally, it has blanketed Kern county for decades with simmering spills of superheated crude mixed with brine forced to the surface by streaming.
In justifying the limited scope of his actions with respect to fossil fuel production, the governor pulled out a trope that has been an oil industry talking point for years: the “if we don’t drill for oil we’ll just have to import it to meet demand” line of reasoning.
There are a several holes in that logic. First, if the governor is worried about imports, that horse is already out of the barn. California’s oil industry has been in decline for years, and the state now imports more than 50 percent of its oil from foreign sources as a result — a number that is steadily increasing. Treating a dirty and dying industry with kid gloves is not going to reverse that trend. Additionally, it bears note that while crude from foreign sources may be associated with problematic environmental practices, from a climate standpoint California’s crude is dirtier than the imports, due to the prevalence of cyclic steaming. But most significantly, the governor’s logic fails to account for the fact that it is not just in-state consumer demand that is fueling the increase in California’s imports. As explained in a recent report by Communities for a Better Environment and consultant Greg Karras, West Coast demand has been declining, thanks in part to California’s efforts. The increased crude oil imports are not just fueling our cars, they are fueling production of refined products that are being exported from the state.
It’s time for the governor to start thinking as big about California’s oil extraction as he is about reducing demand, so the state can start cutting carbon emissions with both sides of the scissors. Curbing California’s massively dirty oil extraction industry should not be a climate policy afterthought. And simply reiterating what you’re already doing, and planning for how to pick up the pieces after the industry goes away on its own, are not enough.
But here are some steps that would represent actual solid progress toward phasing out California’s oil production:
- Figure out how to limit permit issuance and then do it. California oil regulators have at times expressed the view that when permit applicants check all the required boxes, the regulators are required to issue them permits. That assumption is questionable, given the inherent discretion that the regulators have by statute to protect the environment and public health and address climate concerns. But one way or the other, the administration needs to definitively sort out what legal authority it has to deny permits for practices that are harmful to the environment, regardless of the checked boxes – and then either start using that authority or ask the legislature to give it to them. The governor’s call on the legislature for a fracking ban was a positive step in this direction, but regulators’ legal authority to say no should be established for all types of drilling.