California sued over its oil and gas permitting practices
Mark Olalde, The Desert Sun
The Center for Biological Diversity on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against California that challenges the state s approval of thousands of permits to drill for oil and gas. The environmental advocacy organization is asking the court to issue an injunction against the state to compel it to follow the California Environmental Quality Act in its permitting of oil and gas wells.
The group alleges that the California Geologic Energy Management Division, which is tasked with regulating the state s oil and gas industry, has a consistent and ongoing pattern and practice of ignoring its legal obligation to conduct environmental review before issuing oil and gas permits throughout the state.