The oil and gas industry has withdrawn their year and a half long, multimillion dollar effort to continue drilling near California communities
Oakland, Calif. — Big Oil has announced that they are withdrawing their referendum on SB 1137 (Gonzalez, Limon), ending their campaign to continue to sacrifice the health of our most vulnerable California communities for the sake of lining their pockets.
SB 1137, as passed by the legislature and signed by the governor in 2022, requires the oil and gas industry to keep any new drilling a minimum of 3200 feet away from homes, schools, and other residential areas and would require operators that still have wells within the 3200-foot protection zone to develop and implement a leak detection and response plan. Three days after the governor signed SB 1137 into law, Big Oil submitted their paperwork to enact a referendum, which immediately froze implementation of the bill. This was a win-win situation for Big Oil; they planned to spend big to win big in November; but even a loss is a win as the ballot measure kept the bill from going into effect. As a result of the withdrawal of the referendum, the requirements of SB 1137 will go into effect immediately.
“This is a huge win for our families, our communities, and for the generations to come,” says Jesus Alonso, Kern Gas and Oil Organizer for Clean Water Action. “As parents all we want is a better life for our children and after years of fighting and time sacrificed our families will finally be able to breathe easier. This is a victory, time tested and proven that when people come together, when we fight together, no challenge is too great. This victory would have been impossible without the people from impacted communities that time and time again raised their voices and made themselves heard.”
“This is an incredible victory for our communities and all the organizations and organizers that have been by our side supporting us in protecting our community,” says Saul Ruiz Presidente of Comite Lost Hills En Accion. “It feels like we get a little victory here and there, but this one was a big one since Big Oil themselves recognized their error. This gives me hope for things to come. I thank God for moving us forward so that our communities don’t suffer under harmful contaminants any longer. Thank you to Gustavo, Cesar, Ruben, Nataly, Nayamin, Jennifer, and Jesus for never dropping your guard and fighting for our communities.”
This win is the result of a years-long community effort. This is a win not only for California as a whole, but for those who suffered the brunt of the oil and gas industry’s selfishness and who have spent the past decade fighting to be heard.
Since our founding during the campaign to pass the landmark Clean Water Act in 1972, Clean Water Action has worked to win strong health and environmental protections by bringing issue expertise, solution-oriented thinking and people power to the table. Our Mission is to protect our environment, health, economic well-being and community quality of life. Clean Water Action organizes strong grassroots groups and coalitions, and campaigns to elect environmental candidates and to solve environmental and community problems.
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