The oil and gas industry in California is releasing large volumes of greenhouse gases – despite scientific consensus that current fossil fuel pollution must be greatly curtailed to prevent the most catastrophic effects of climate change. This includes methane, which is 86 times more powerful than carbon dioxide over a 20-year time scale.
At the same time, air quality is threatened in the communities near oil and gas operations. The main reason is increased pollution from methane and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which science associates with a range of health problems.
Yet despite these trends, policymakers (and the general public) continue to assume that state and federal governments have both the will and the resources to adequately oversee a complex and increasingly polluting industry. Years of research and field experience by Earthworks have demonstrated that this is not the reality on the ground.
Currently, state regulatory and enforcement agencies are:
- Inconsistent and insufficient in how they respond to the public
- Primarily focused on issuing permits quickly
- Underfunded and short-staffed
- Subject to the political influence of the oil and gas industry
- Ill-equipped by state regulatory codes to address emissions
