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California Passes Legislation to Increase Oil Production

  • Peyton Widen
  • 1 day ago
  • 1 min read

Updated: 23 hours ago

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California has always been known as a state with aggressive climate change policies. This took a turn on September 13th when the state of California passed a bill to issue 2,000 oil drilling permits each year for the next decade. This comes after the rising concern for affordability and the rapid increase in the cost of living in California.  

In recent years, the United States has significantly increased the amount of oil produced within our country. While the country’s oil production has increased, California’s crude output dropped by more than 50%.


This caused the state to rely heavily on imported oil from other states or from other countries, which isn't cheap. Most of the burden of the price has fallen on the consumers. If circumstances were to continue, economists warned gasoline prices could potentially reach $8-per-gallon in some parts of California. Some consumers might be excited about the new bill as it is a step in the right direction towards stabilizing consumer prices in a state widely ranked as #1 for the highest cost of living.  


The bill itself also helps accelerate the permit approval process for new drilling projects by reducing wait times from months to weeks. Some provisions in the bill temporarily ease certain environmental restrictions to increase production. These parts of this bill have caused certain backlash from state residents because of the environmental impacts. Specifically, California Governor Gavin Newsom has received backlash from some California Democrats. He will continue to face the conflict of balancing long-term clean-energy goals and concerns about the rising cost of living. 

  

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