Hallelujah! California’s Radical Fracking Ban Bill Fails to Advance in the State’s Legislature

April 14, 2021

California has been a leader in championing anti-energy, anti-business and anti-jobs policies, and the results speak for themselves. The state suffers from some of the highest retail electricity rates in the nation, making the businesses there less competitive on a national and global level.

So it was no surprise earlier this year when CNBC reported that companies – including Oracle, Palantir and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise – were eagerly moving their headquarters out of the state.

California’s population and job growth have both slowed to a trickle, with many citing concerns about high taxes, cost of living and heavy regulations.

But rather than look for ways to improve conditions for businesses and workers, many California lawmakers decided to double down on the expensive energy policies contributing to their predicament.

Earlier this month, PTF discussed a new bill in the California legislature that would ban fracking in the state by 2027.

This bill has the potential to push many residents out of the state. Rita Waugh has lived in California her whole life and is now fearful she will have to uproot her family and move to a new state. Waugh is one of the 366,000 workers the oil and gas industry supports in California, having worked for Aera Energy for close to 20 years.

Now she is fearful for her job security, she shared her concern with Fox saying, “my job and many other jobs in the oil industry would be in danger if this measure were to pass.”

“It’s not just necessarily my job. It’s the restaurants and the businesses that I then go and spend my income in support of this community. I think it would change really change the dynamics of this entire community.”

Fortunately, some common sense was on display in the legislature this week, when this job killing bill failed to advance out of its legislative committee, effectively killing the legislation that moved to ban fracking in the state by 2027.

This is an important victory for California energy workers and the state’s economy. But it is also a useful reminder that radical energy policies will continue to be a threat to the state’s well-being. We just hope the elected officials representing local communities in California continue to defend the interests of their constituents.