Feds Launch Effort to Reopen Oil, Gas Leasing in Central California
Petroleum production on federal property in California has averaged between 8% and 10% of California’s total.
Federal lands in Central California that the Biden administration closed to new oil and gas leasing could be reopened for drilling under an official process launched late last week.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management announced Friday it will take public comments for 30 days on a forthcoming environmental review and possible changes to a regional resource management plan covering eight counties including Kern.
The effort is a response to President Donald Trump’s call for “unleashing American energy” — specifically, increasing petroleum production on property managed by the BLM.
Any such expansion in Kern would be administered by the bureau’s Bakersfield office, which is responsible for overseeing about 400,000 acres of federal land and 450,000 acres of federal mineral estate.
Petroleum production on federal property in California has averaged between 8% and 10% of California’s total. An oil trade group applauded the effort, while an environmental advocacy organization criticized it.
CEO Rock Zierman of the California Independent Petroleum Association called the BLM’s initiation of a review “a practical step in the right direction.” He urged California residents to submit comments and support energy policies prioritizing local jobs, lower fuel prices and a stronger economic future.
“By responsibly producing energy here at home, we can support California workers and reduce our reliance on foreign governments,” he stated.
But Senior Campaign Strategist Mercedes Aguilar with the Sierra Club’s Beyond Dirty Fuels Campaign said allowing an expansion of drilling on BLM land in Central California would be a “huge loss to Californians.”
“What’s more, this drilling expansion would put families at increased risk of asthma, cancer and other health issues — all linked to the toxic air pollution from oil and gas drilling sites,” she said in a news release. “We can — and must — maintain energy independence and a strong economy without digging up protected lands and polluting the air we breathe.”
A BLM document noted the review will not include the California Coastal National Monument or the Carrizo Plain National Monument. It said the solicitation of public comments was meant to identify issues to be addressed in the review.
Local BLM officials did not respond to questions about the environmental review.
In August 2022, the BLM agreed not to auction off any more federal leases for production of oil and gas in Central California, including Kern, until the agency had completed an environmental review of the effects of the well-completion technique known as fracking.
The agreement stemmed from a series of cases in 2020 in which the Newsom administration and environmental groups filed lawsuits targeting the BLM’s 2019 review of fracking’s local impacts. The cases effectively challenged Trump’s first-term plan to restart oil leasing in the region.
Public comments on the plan are due by July 23. They may be filed online at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2037500/510.
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