Last Friday, California legislators voted to move SB 614 forward, a bill that would create a pathway to prematurely lift California’s current moratorium on CO2 pipelines. 

This is highly concerning given that the federal government’s Transportation Department’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has just revealed that it has no plans to complete federal safety guidelines rulemaking on CO2 pipeline safety anytime soon. 

“Any attempt to lift California’s current moratorium on CO2 pipelines is ludicrous, dangerous and short-sighted, especially considering we are still waiting for the federal government to release safety guidelines,” said Isabel Penman, Food & Water Watch Northern California Organizer. “Because of this decision, Californians will be put at more risk of dangerous – potentially deadly – CO2 leaks. Further, this decision plays right into Big Oil’s hand and gives them a lifeline when we really need to be rapidly transitioning to a sustainable energy future free of fossil fuels.”

In response to the moratorium possibly being lifted, community members who would be living near the proposed Montezuma Carbon Hub and environmental advocates gathered at the Solano County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to rally and launch the Communities Against Carbon Transport & Injection (CACTI) coalition. 

The group launched to warn Californians of the harms of CO2 pipelines and carbon dumping projects and specifically the Montezuma Carbon Hub, a 45-mile pipeline and waste injection well that could transport CO2 from sources such as power plants and refineries via pipelines through the Bay Area and ultimately inject it underground in a wetland. 

“Putting CO2 pipelines in our communities puts us at major risk of potential CO2 leaks,” stated Bonnie Hamilton MD, San Francisco Bay Physicians for Social Responsibility and 30 year resident of Solano County about the launch of CACTI. “Pipeline ruptures could release massive amounts of hazardous concentrated CO2 into our air. This could literally suffocate people, stall cars and block emergency responders. That’s why we are launching this campaign, to warn Californians of the dangers of these pipelines.”

Another bill that was moving through the session and would have also created a pathway to lift the moratorium, AB 881, is now inactive.