California Gov. Gavin Newsom's plan to ban new oil and gas wells within 3,200 feet of neighborhood sites is drawing cautious optimism from environmental groups but strong pushback from the oil industry and its labor allies.
It’s the latest in a series of bold proposals the Democratic governor, who just survived an attempted recall, has made to wind down oil and gas production in California, which holds significant sway over national policy. He has directed state agencies to create plans to halt production by 2045 and end the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035.
On the other side, the Western States Petroleum Association, an oil and gas lobbying group, and the State Building and Construction Trades Council, a union, warned the rule would make energy less reliable in California, forcing the state to buy more oil from other nations and leading to a spike in prices. In the past, efforts to create setbacks have failed in the capital, where the two groups are influential.
Newsom painted California as taking a more aggressive stand than any other state on how close drilling can be to homes and schools, but the state is behind its fellow oil and gas producing states. Colorado, Pennsylvania and even Texas have rules about how close oil wells can be to certain properties. Colorado’s 2,000-foot setback on new drilling, adopted last year, is the nation’s strictest rule.
The rules were proposed by the California Geologic Energy Management Division, known as CalGEM, which regulates the state’s oil industry and issues drilling permits. Newsom directed it to focus on health and safety when he took office in 2019, specifically telling the division to consider setbacks around oil drilling to protect community health.
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