Cleaner/Cheaper Energy
Cleaner/Cheaper Energy
Los Angeles, CA — Governor Newson’s ban on fracking in 2024 is a step in the right direction, and with the number of permit approvals falling dramatically so far this year, he has a perfect opening to take even stronger steps, Consumer Watchdog said today.
Los Angeles, CA — Governor Gavin Newsom gave supermarkets and other dealers of beverages carrying a five or ten cent deposit another 60-day reprieve on refunding deposits, putting greater pressure on too few redemption centers to serve millions of Californians. California now joins Iowa’s Republican Governor as the only states letting the retailers off the hook for redeeming bottles.
Los Angeles, CA—As the Covid-19 pandemic unfolded, new oil well permits under Gov. Gavin Newsom rose 7.8% in the first quarter of 2020 through April 4, compared to the first quarter of 2019, Consumer Watchdog and FrackTrackerAlliance reported today. The Newsom Administration issued 1,623 permits during the first quarter of 2020. It also approved 24 fracking permits after a nine-month moratorium. The total number of permits issued under Newsom since he took office in January 2019 is 6,168.
“I was saving money with (the) variable rate, but after this, in case this happens again in the future, I'm sticking with the fixed rate.”
By Anastasiya Bolton, KHOU TV-11 Houston, TX
February 23, 2021
https://www.khou.com/article/news/deep-dive-texas/variable-rate-electri…
Los Angeles, CA — California oil regulators more than doubled the dispensing of permits in 2020 to drill new oil and gas production wells, issuing more than 1,700 in 2020, Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance reported today.
At the same time, the Newsom Administration failed to meet its own New Year’s Eve deadline for a draft rule designating the safe distance for drilling from a community, giving itself until Spring. Public interest groups who have pushed for a 2,500-foot setback are troubled by the delay. States such as Colorado have instituted setbacks of 2,000 feet.
By Janet Wilson, THE DESERT SUN
September 24, 2020
https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/environment/2020/09/23/newsom-aims…
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday vowed to work with the state legislature to phase out new permits for hydraulic fracking by 2024, but left untouched a more widely used oil extraction technique in the state that has been linked to hundreds of oil spills.
By Don Thompson, ASSOCIATED PRESS
September 23, 2020
https://apnews.com/article/legislature-climate-hydraulic-fracturing-env…
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom moved Wednesday to end issuing new hydraulic fracturing permits by 2024, a delay criticized by many environmental groups but characterized as legally and politically realistic by another.
Los Angeles, CA — Consumer Watchdog and the FracTracker Alliance challenged the state’s Oil and Gas Supervisor Uduak-Joe Ntuk “to be honest with the public about the data” on oil drilling in the state. They stated his refusal to acknowledge data published by the Department of Conservation’s Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) “sullies CalGEM and reflects poorly on an Administration that claims desperately to want to stem the cruel tide of climate change.”
By UPFRONT - KPFA 94.1FM Berkeley, CA
September 9, 2020
Click here to listen to the audio of this radio news broadcast: https://kpfa.org/episode/upfront-september-9-2020/
As the California Resources Corporation and other oil companies filed for bankruptcy and COVID-19 cases shattered California daily records in the second quarter of 2020, oil regulators under Governor Gavin Newsom also shattered records for dispensing new oil and gas production well drilling permits, Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance said in a report released today.
By Dan Bacher, RED GREEN & BLUE
September 3, 2020
By Larry Perel, KCRW 89.9 FM Santa Monica, CA
September 3, 2020
Click here to listen to the audio of this radio news segment: https://www.consumerwatchdog.org/sites/default/files/2020-09/CWD_OilPer…
Los Angeles, CA — As COVID-19 cases shattered California daily records in the second quarter of 2020, oil regulators under Gov. Newsom also shattered records for dispensing new oil and gas production well drilling permits, Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance said today.
Los Angeles, CA — Consumer Watchdog urged Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon to shut down a last-minute attempt by waste haulers, grocers and recyclers to steal consumers’ bottle deposit refunds and make the system less available to them, the group said.
By John Cox, THE BAKERSFIELD CALIFORNIAN
July 22, 2020
https://www.bakersfield.com/news/berry-corp-hires-former-top-state-oil-…
The head of one of Kern's biggest oil producers says he knew it might raise eyebrows to hire a man who used to be California's top oil regulator.
Los Angeles, CA — Oil and gas regulators at the California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) no longer hold oil stocks or other interests in the sector that they regulate in a radical departure from past practices, Consumer Watchdog said today.
A new conflict of interest policy at the division’s parent agency, the Department of Conservation (DOC), now prohibits such investments without explicit written approval by DOC’s director.
By Colin Staub, PLASTICS RECYCLING UPDATE
June 24, 2020
https://resource-recycling.com/plastics/2020/06/24/california-reinstate…
A single-use plastic bag ban and reusable bag recycled-content mandate is back in force in California. The regulations had been temporarily lifted because of COVID-19.
