Just a few weeks ago, California Assemblymember Petrie-Norris amended bill AB 881 to create a pathway to lift the state’s partial CO2 pipeline moratorium after the State Fire Marshall develops carbon dioxide pipeline safety regulations. Senator Stern also introduced bill SB 614 that would also allow the state pipeline moratorium to be lifted. 

AB 881 is set for a hearing on April 23 and SB 614 is set for an April 22 hearing. 

The moratorium was enacted in 2022 to protect California communities from dangerous, woefully inadequate federal pipeline safety regulations. Prematurely lifting the moratorium would put communities at risk of incredibly dangerous, potentially deadly CO2 leaks – and could speed up the greenlighting of CO2 pipelines and carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects. There are around two dozen proposed CCS projects in California, most of which would be located in areas of the state already overburdened by pollution.

The dangers of CO2 pipelines were exposed by a disastrous pipeline rupture in Satartia, Mississippi, which sent dozens of people to the hospital and left some with permanent disabilities from CO2 exposure. The federal pipeline agency, PHSMA, pledged to create new CO2 pipeline safety regulations after that incident.

California environmental groups working to alert the public to the dangers of CO2 pipelines and CCS projects released the following statements: 

“California’s leaders have an obligation to resist industry pressure to rush dangerous CO2 pipeline projects through,” said Isabel Penman, Northern California Organizer at Food & Water Watch. “The California legislature should not amend the law to allow the state to act ahead of federal pipeline rule-making.”

“The safest move for Californians and the environment is to keep the CO2 pipeline moratorium in place,” said Victoria Bogdan Tejeda, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “Once we get the federal rule and related comments and expert input, California should enact protections above and beyond that. These bills would only cut that process short and accelerate dangerous CO2 pipeline construction in communities already struggling with some of the worst pollution in the state.”

“CO2 does not react like oil and gas and moving CO2 by pipeline requires specific and comprehensive health, safety and engineering rules,” said Valerie Ventre-Hutton, 350 Bay Area Action. “The state’s CO2 moratorium should not be lifted prematurely. Leaking gas is odorless, colorless, and can suffocate. Community first responders are simply not trained to deal with a CO2 emergency.” 

“In our desperation to avert the worst impacts of climate change, we are rushing into actions that could actually worsen this emergency,” said Shoshana Wechsler of the Sunflower Alliance.  “One such example is our potentially deadly embrace of carbon capture and sequestration. Transporting CO2 is risky business—carbon dioxide is a well-known asphyxiant, and the pipelines carrying it are notoriously prone to leaks.  We must keep our state moratorium in place while further regulatory study is undertaken. Ultimately, the only truly safe, reliable way forward is to accelerate our switch to renewable energy.  To do otherwise is to put lipstick on a pig.”

“Legislators need to resist industry pressure to prematurely lift the moratorium on CO2 pipelines and push through expensive, unsafe carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects,” said Allie Rosenbluth, U.S. Campaign Manager at Oil Change International.  “First and foremost, these projects are moneymakers for the fossil fuel industry at working people’s expense. CCS has a 50-year record of failure to reduce climate pollution, while CO2 pipelines have major technical challenges and safety risks. Most of the carbon capture projects exist to extract more oil and gas, worsening the climate crisis and polluting communities’ air and water while the industry profits. California’s legislators must stand up for their constituents by maintaining the moratorium on C02 pipelines.” 

“California must not fall for the snake oil that Big Oil is selling us,” said Jakob Evans, Policy Strategist at Sierra Club California. “Lifting the pipeline moratorium without publicly-reviewed federal regulations risks paving the way for risky and unproven carbon capture technology without robust safety standards—technology with a tragic history of leaks and direct ties to the fossil fuel industry.”

“California leaders should prioritize protecting the communities they serve—not advancing projects that put our health and safety at further risk,” said Martha Dina Argüello, Executive Director of Physicians for Social Responsibility – Los Angeles. “Incidents like the pipeline rupture in Satartia in 2020 show us that we cannot lift this moratorium. The carbon pipeline moratorium must remain in place—community health must not be sacrificed for risky and unproven infrastructure.” 

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