by Katy Grimes
As Appearing in the California Globe

37 new oil and gas wells drilling on new California land leases over the next 20 years

The oil and gas industry in California currently provides 368,000 jobs and more than $24 billion in tax revenues to the state, making this industry vital to the entire California economy.

The Trump administration Bureau of Land Management has finalized plans to open 800,000 acres of federal land in Central California to oil and gas leasing, primarily located in Fresno, Monterey and San Benito counties. This will allow oil and gas drilling to move forward in Alameda, Contra Costa, Fresno, Merced, Monterey, San Benito, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Stanislaus Counties, the Bureau of Land Management reports.

The oil and gas industry in California currently provides 368,000 jobs and more than $24 billion in tax revenues to the state, making this industry vital to the entire California economy.

The BLM plan is estimated to result in up to 37 new oil and gas wells drilling on new land leases over the next 20 years. The BLM estimates that the oil and gas industry on private and public lands directly supports approximately 3,000 jobs and $623 million dollars in tax revenue within Fresno, Monterey and San Benito counties.

This was not good news for everyone.

“Clare Lakewood, a senior attorney at the environmental group Center for Biological Diversity, called the decision on the Central California leasing proposal ‘reckless,’” the Sacramento Bee reports. “Turning over these spectacular wild places to dirty drilling and fracking will sicken Californians, harm endangered species and fuel climate chaos. We’ll fight tooth and nail to make sure it doesn’t happen,” Lakewood said in a statement.

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