ExxonKnews
September 30, 2025
This article is being co-published with The Lever, an investigative newsroom.
A California bill now awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) signature would set a pathway to eliminate the state’s trailblazing moratorium on pipelines used to transport carbon dioxide. The fossil fuel industry lobbied to shape the Democrat-sponsored legislation, which could allow such pipelines to be constructed without strict distance requirements around communities and sensitive wildlife habitats — raising fears that leaks or ruptures of the asphyxiant gas could occur close to people’s homes.
The hazards of carbon dioxide pipelines became apparent in 2020, when a pipeline rupture outside the small town of Satartia, Mississippi, emitted a cloud of highly condensed carbon dioxide that suffocated residents and halted emergency vehicles as it displaced oxygen in the air. Emergency responders have since likened the incident to a “zombie apocalypse.”
