Limiting fossil fuel production as the next big step in climate policy

• Published in: Nature climate change Vol. 8; no. 12; pp. 1037 - 1043
• Main Authors: Erickson, Peter, Lazarus, Michael, Piggot, Georgia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.12.2018; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 704/106/694/682; 706/4066/4080; Carbon dioxide; Carbon dioxide emissions; Case studies; Climate; Climate Change; Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts; Climate effects; Climate policy; Constraining; Earth and Environmental Science; Environment; Environmental justice; Environmental Law/Policy/Ecojustice; Environmental policy; Fossil fuels; Fuel production; Jurisdiction; Oil and gas production; Oil production; Oil wells; Paris Agreement; Perspective; United States > US; California
• ISSN: 1758-678X; 1758-6798
• DOI: 10.1038/s41558-018-0337-0

Despite the current ambivalence of the United States towards the Paris Agreement, national and local jurisdictions across the globe remain committed, and they are seeking ways to increase the ambition and effectiveness of their climate policies. One way forwards could be limiting the production — not just the consumption — of coal, gas and oil. Here we describe the rationale for, and CO 2 emissions implications of, limiting oil production. Seven countries have recently imposed such limits, and we develop a case study for a potential addition to this group, the US state of California. We find that by ceasing the issuance of permits for new oil wells, California could reduce global CO 2 emissions substantially and also enhance environmental justice in the state. Climate policy is heavily focused on reducing demand for fossil fuels, but supply-side polices represent a potentially powerful tool to reduce CO 2 emissions. This Perspective uses the US state of California as a case study to explore the rationale and possible impacts of limiting oil production.