State Lawmakers Vote Down Bill That Would Phase Out Fracking In California
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF/BCN) -- A bill introduced earlier this year by state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, that would phase out fracking for oil in California was voted down by a Senate committee.
Senate Bill 467, which would have also created a buffer zone around oil extraction sites to ensure they are not near homes, schools or other community locations, only got three of the five votes needed from the state Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee to move forward.
Wiener and his co-author on the bill, state Sen. Monique Limon, D-Santa Barbara, had introduced the bill in February and issued a joint statement Tuesday following its failure to pass the Senate committee.
"While we're extremely disappointed by the Committee's rejection of SB 467, we're inspired by the coalition behind this critical climate and public health measure. Frontline communities of color stood up for their families and against drilling practices that severely harm people's health," the two state senators said in the statement.
"While we saw this effort defeated today, this issue isn't going away. We'll continue to fight for aggressive climate action, against harmful drilling, and for the health of our communities," Wiener and Limon said.
Among the specifics of the bill were stopping the issuance or renewal of permits for hydraulic fracturing -- also known as fracking -- and other specified oil extraction methods starting in 2022 and prohibiting those practices in 2027, along with prohibiting all new or renewed oil or gas extraction permits within 2,500 feet of homes, schools, health care facilities or long-term care institutions by 2022.
Wiener's office said nearly 7.5 million Californians live within a mile of an oil or gas well and more than 2 million live within a mile of an operational well, and that states like Texas and Oklahoma have buffer zones enacted around oil extraction sites while California does not. The state Legislature considered a bill last year proposing setbacks for those sites but it also got voted down.
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