Op-Ed: Treat Fossil Fuels Like Nukes. Endorse a New Nonproliferation Treaty

by Jacques Leslie (Los Angeles Times) The Los Angeles City Council is poised to endorse a call for a global Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. ... Signatory governments would agree to stop further expansion of the fossil fuel industry within their boundaries.

The treaty addresses a nearly universal failing of climate change regulations, which usually attempt to curb energy demand (by establishing, say, a cap-and-trade system or setting far-off deadlines for clean energy conversion) instead of attacking the oil industry directly by limiting fossil fuel supply. Tzeporah Berman, chair of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty initiative, points out that the Paris agreement is so focused on emissions and demand that it doesn’t even use the terms “coal,” “oil,” “natural gas” and “fossil fuels” — the substances that cause those emissions.

California’s failure to limit supply makes state leaders’ claims to global climate leadership questionable. The state’s most recent two governors, Jerry Brown and now Gavin Newsom, have acknowledged the gravity of the climate crisis, but their administrations have both issued new oil well permits at a rate of 1,000 to 3,000 a year, according to FracTracker Alliance.

Besides committing governments to ending the development of new fossil fuel resources, the treaty proposal calls for a coordinated, accelerated phaseout of existing fossil fuel production. It would divert money from fossil fuel subsidies to clean energy development in poor countries. The treaty’s creators are also sponsoring the creation of a global registry of fossil fuel production.

Numerous nations — including New Zealand, France, Costa Rica, Belize and, as of November, Denmark — as well as state and local governments have announced moratoriums on new oil exploration and production. Others have phased out fracking and coal production and use.

Los Angeles is a natural focus for treaty organizers because of its unusually high concentration of oil infrastructure in an urban setting: The city is home to more than 800 active wells in 26 oil and gas fields. Last month, a City Council committee called for the drafting of an ordinance that could phase out oil and gas production in L.A., but any such measure faces heavy industry resistance. READ MORE

Excerpt from Politico's Morning Energy: California Gov. Gavin Newsom (who is part of the U.S. Climate Alliance) directed state regulators to ban new fracking permits by 2024, with eyes toward possibly eliminating all fossil fuel extraction by 2045, reports Pro’s Colby Bermel from California (Colby and Debra Kahn first reported the fracking plans last week). You may recall that Newsom said last fall he didn't have the executive authority to unilaterally ban fracking, but shifted course after criticism that he did not throw his weight behind a bill to phase out fracking. READ MORE

Excerpt from Politico's Morning Energy: THEY DRINK HIS MILKSHAKE: California Gov. Gavin Newsom may be trying to burnish his green cred, but Kern County isn't looking to help the embattled Democrat out. Officials in the county — the state's largest oil producing county — are poised to approve a plan that could increase the number of oil wells in California by a staggering 40 percent or more over the next 15 years.

Experts and insiders don't expect the Newsom administration to go against the local ordinance, which would would allow more than 40,000 new oil and gas wells over the next 15 years, even though California aims to achieve economy-wide carbon neutrality by 2045.

"I think it would be political — I don't want to use the word 'suicide' — but it's extremely risky for him, especially now as the winds blowing against him are picking up. I don't think he will pick a big fight with oil right now," said Chandra Commuri, a public policy researcher at California State University, Bakersfield. Colby Bermel has more. READ MORE