Tell Governor Newsom to Stop Permitting Another Public Health Crisis

While Californians struggle to protect their families during the COVID-19 crisis, and on the same day the New York legislature and Governor Cuomo moved to ban fracking, the Newsom Administration just quietly approved 24 new fracking permits that will further threaten public health.

It’s time to demand that Governor Newsom and Oil and Gas Supervisor Uduak-Joe Ntuk reverse these recent permits and halt all additional oil and gas permits while the rest of the state focuses its attention on the COVID-19 crisis.

Dear Governor Newsom,

I’m deeply concerned to learn that on Friday, April 3rd, California Geologic Energy Management division (CALGEM) approved 24 additional permits for fracking. While COVID-19 cases continue to rise, it is unconscionable that Governor Newsom and his administration would take further actions to endanger the health of communities already more vulnerable to adverse health outcomes from COVID-19.

Fracking pollutes our air with toxic emissions, contaminates our groundwater, and pushes us faster toward yet another economic and public health crisis—catastrophic climate change. A new nationwide study has found that Coronavirus patients in areas with high levels of air pollution are more likely to die from the infection than patients in parts of the country with lower pollution levels.

In the midst of the COVID-19 respiratory pandemic, the last thing we need is more toxic chemicals in the air we breathe. While the rest of the state struggles to keep their family members safe, CALGEM’s recent fracking permit approvals amount to regulatory backpedaling that further jeopardizes public health.

Last November, Governor Newsom announced a moratorium on all new fracking and cyclic steam permits. On the same day that your regulators resumed permitting fracking here, the New York legislature made the fracking ban in New York―first announced by Governor Cuomo in 2014―permanent. Now is the time to double down on this moratorium, not backpedal on progress.

We call on Governor Newsom to reverse the recent decision to issue fracking permits, and instead halt all additional permits while the rest of the state focuses its attention on the COVID-19 crisis.

Sincerely,
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