Photo credit: Peter Bennett
2021 is coming to a close, but before we gear up for another exciting and busy year, let’s take a step back to acknowledge and celebrate the major wins we had this year fighting against oil and gas in California. Through the collective efforts of local organizations and frontline activists in California, we created a powerful coalition to push state regulators and legislators to really take a hard look at the fossil fuel industry and its detrimental effects on land, water, air and the communities of California. Oil and gas infrastructure in California has had devastating impacts on frontline communities. From larger statewide initiatives to big wins in Kern and Los Angeles County, we have laid the groundwork for 2022 to continue our goal of just transition away from California’s fossil fuel production.
Here is a roundup of some of the state's accomplishments over this year (with more to come!)
Statewide
This year, Governor Newsom made the commitment to ban new fracking permits by 2024 and also requested the California Air Resources Board assess how the state can phase out all oil and gas drilling by 2045. Encouragingly, initial planning by the California Air Resources Board this fall includes 2035 and 2045 deadlines. By denying permits and taking this major step to move away from fossil fuel production, the Newsom administration is beginning to live up to the expectations set by voters. To set this ball in motion, California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) has rejected an unprecedented amount of fracking permits this year, totalling 109. With this new direction, there can only be more good news in store for the state of California and its communities.
Following the fracking ban announcement, frontline communities and environmental justice organizations continued to push Governor Newsom to establish a buffer zone between dirty oil wells and homes, schools and other sensitive areas. In October, CalGEM issued new draft health and safety rules requiring that newly constructed oil and gas extraction sites must be at least 3,200 ft from homes, schools and parks. This first of its kind draft rule is one of the longest setback distances in the nation, and will help guard Californian communities from oil and gas well pollution. Active wells are linked to a host of health effects, including cancer, premature mortality, asthma, and other respiratory ailments. These impacts are not distributed equally, with communities of color and low-income communities being most affected. Oil and gas extraction produces air pollution as well as water contamination and noise pollution. This encouraging new rule creates a solid stepping stone to protect vulnerable Californians from harmful fossil fuel production, but it does not go far enough. The regulations should be expanded to include existing wells, not just new wells. While this rule is actively being drafted, CalGEM should also reject all permit requests that fall within the 3,200-ft health and safety buffer, as they have done with the fracking permits. With over 40,000 public comments, we are working alongside our partners and those affected by these decisions to voice our concerns and hold CalGEM accountable. Ultimately, there is no safe distance from the effects of oil and gas extraction. We plan to host an organizing meeting to debrief the outcomes of these efforts and discuss next steps on Tuesday, January 25. We hope to see you there!
Los Angeles County
In a historic vote, Culver City committed to phase out and clean up oil wells within the city’s borders by July 28, 2026. Culver City is one of the first cities in recent history to phase out existing oil production. This vote also addresses a much larger, more expensive issue that often goes under the radar: full remediation of the oil wells and soil on the site. By 2026, Culver City will shut down and clean up 41 oil wells, creating a pathway for Los Angeles County to follow.
As Culver City paved the way, the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors voted unanimously just a few months later in support of a measure to begin the process of phasing out oil drilling on unincorporated LA County land. This historic vote puts LA County on the path to being the first in the country to ban and phase out existing drilling and would include over 1,600 oil wells and also the largest urban oil field in the country – the Inglewood Oil Field. This motion centered on the needs of those most affected by oil drilling, which are predominantly communities of color.
In line with the major win for LA County against oil drilling, the County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to enact a just-transition task force to address the impacts on both fossil fuel workers and frontline communities. Part of that includes accessing policy solutions to properly plug and remediate idle oil wells in unincorporated parts of the county. Idle oil and gas wells are wells that have not produced oil in more than two years and have not yet been properly closed and cleaned up. Idle wells pose a host of risks to our community, including harmful fluids and dangerous gases that may migrate to the surface, causing water and soil contamination and deadly explosions. Idle wells can also cause significant climate pollution because they leak methane, a greenhouse gas 86 times stronger than carbon dioxide in driving climate change. The county board’s historic vote advances a just transition as a critical component to addressing the intersecting issues of climate justice, economic justice, and public health.
Kern County
Kern County Superior court ordered Kern County to stop issuing oil and gas permits until the court determines that the county has fixed the legal problems in its 2015 oil and gas ordinance, which fast-tracked approval of new wells and eliminated future environmental reviews and public participation. Because Kern County failed to adequately analyze and mitigate the significant impacts on air and water quality as well as public health concerns, the court stopped the County from operating and held them accountable for reckless and illegal issuance of these permits before the court had signed off.
Santa Barbara
The Santa Barbara County Planning Commission unexpectedly voted to deny ExxonMobil’s proposal to transport oil by tanker trucks along hazardous California highways so it can restart three drilling platforms off the Santa Barbara coast. ExxonMobil’s plan called for up to 24,800 oil-filled truck trips per year on coastal Highway 101 and hazardous Route 166, 24 hours a day, to refineries. ExxonMobil’s three offshore platforms were shut down in 2015 after the Plains All American Pipeline ruptured and spilled thousands of gallons of oil along the California coast. After the initial vote, the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission voted to deny ExxonMobil’s proposal to transport oil by tanker trucks along California highways. This vote finalized that decision to recommend denial after there had been another disastrous oil spill off of Huntington Beach and the Alisal Fire. These 40-year old platforms had a history of corrosion and spills, ultimately putting the entire coastline at risk.
Southern California
To round out the year, the South Coast Air Quality Management District board approved new restrictions on area oil refineries and other factories that could remove tons of smog-forming pollutants from the air. This would improve air quality in Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties. This motion comes after 10 years of community organizing and will benefit those living near the facility.
Everything we've accomplished in 2021 has only been possible because of the work of Sierra Club members, partner organizations and frontline activists. They lobbied legislators, attended events, called their representatives and took other actions small and large. An instance of this was in the wake of an offshore oil spill, we responded quickly to the crisis to engage with our members and the public with action alerts and town halls. We're working on key policies next year to make sure that spills like this don’t happen again.
This year, we had more than 130 volunteer leaders attend Sierra Club events to get more involved and aware of how the climate crisis is harming them and their neighbors. Additionally, we had a total of 20,505 actions taken. This year would be nothing without your support. As 2021 comes to a close, take time to celebrate and look toward the next year so that we’re ready to continue our fight to protect California’s climate and communities in 2022.