by Katy Grimes, E&E Legal Senior Media Fellow and California Globe Editor
As Appearing in the California Globe
Do the authors of AB 1137 understand that by banning existing oil wells, California will be thrust into immediate energy poverty?
Senate Bill 1137, gut-and-amend legislation by Democrat Senators Lena Gonzalez and Monique Limón, would require 3,200-foot mandatory setbacks around California oil and gas wells.
Really disconcerting is “the bill would authorize the State Air Resources Board, and the State Water Resources Control Board to prescribe, adopt, and enforce any emergency regulations as necessary to implement, administer, and enforce these duties.”
Why now when oil production has responsibly occurred in Los Angeles County and around the state for more than 100 years?
Just in the City of Los Angeles:
- there are 26 oil and gas fields that intersect city boundaries, and 5,229 oil and gas wells, according to the CA DOGGR and verified by the City’s Petroleum Administrator.
- There are approximately 819 active, 296 idle, 3,181 plugged, and 933 buried wells.
- There are oil and gas facilities in nearly every section of the 503 square miles of the City.
- The City of Los Angeles produces 2% of California’s total production.
