On Wednesday, California State Senator Scott Wiener introduced SB 467 to ban all fracking in California by 2027. As CBS Sacramento reports: 

“He introduced SB 467, which would halt new fracking permits or renewing current ones on Jan. 1, 2022. The measure would ban all fracking by Jan. 1, 2027, along with three other oil extraction methods: acid well stimulation treatments, cyclic steaming and water and steam flooding.”

The article says this move by Wiener is an answer to a call by Governor Newsom: 

“The Democratic governor in September called on lawmakers to ban fracking by 2024 as he ordered regulators to begin preparations to prohibit the sale of all new gasoline-powered passenger vehicles by 2035.”

This move to ban fracking is an unsurprising step along the dangerous path California has taken: there is already a law in place that requires the state to use 100% renewable energy by 2045. 

While California is not a major producer of natural gas, banning fracking in the state will only make their energy grid even more unreliable. The development of fracking has allowed the U.S. to become the world’s largest producer of crude oil. Over 59 percent of American crude oil is produced by fracking and this reduced energy costs to remain low for Americans. Fracking has also allowed natural gas to overcome coal as the leading source of power in the U.S., helping to reduce emissions while keeping energy costs affordable.

Instead of taking away good, reliable energy sources from their residents, California lawmakers should focus on encouraging the adoption of clean energy technologies, such as carbon capture and storage, as a way to further reduce emissions without burdening state residents with expensive, unreliable energy.