Kern County officials are giving the green light to California’s first major carbon capture project

Kern County supervisors approved the first large-scale carbon capture facility in California on Monday, clearing one of the final hurdles for a project that environmental groups oppose because of potential impacts on air and water.

The board’s 4-0 vote allows California Resources Corp. to begin construction on a project to store carbon dioxide in depleted oil and gas reservoirs under about 9,000 acres of land in the county. The company still needs approval from the EPA, which oversees carbon dioxide injection into wells.

The project is at the forefront of a fundamental battle in California’s climate transition: whether to support the capture and storage of carbon emissions to meet the state’s 2045 goal of a carbon-neutral economy, or whether to instead seek to eliminate sources of emissions.

The California Air Resources Board has said the state needs carbon capture and storage to meet its goals. The California Public Utilities Commission projects that the state will continue to rely on natural gas to provide stable, reliable electricity and keep the lights on through at least 2039, while the state expands its use of more variable renewable energy, such as wind and solar expands.