A national environmental organization on Monday threatened to sue Gov. Gavin Newsom to halt all new permits for gas and oil wells in the state, saying the governor has failed to protect Californians and the environment from hazards and pollutants released by the state’s billion-dollar petroleum industry.
In a letter sent to Newsom on Monday, the Center for Biological Diversity accused his administration of being friendly to California’s oil industry and issuing new permits without proper environmental reviews. The organization plans to take legal action unless the Democratic governor “promptly direct[s] your regulators to halt permitting.”
“We urge you to direct your regulators to immediately stop issuing the illegal permits, hold the oil industry accountable for its damage and stop allowing oil companies to profit from their oil spills,” attorneys Kassie Siegel and Hollin Kretzmann told Newsom in the letter.
Newsom during his first year in office vowed to protect Californians against the hazards of oil and gas production, but environmental groups have grown increasingly frustrated with what they consider a lack of consequential action.
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