Just one year ago, fossil fuel corporations were forced to withdraw a California ballot measure that would have canceled public health protections for communities near oil and gas drilling operations. Today, those same corporations are fighting back with a vengeance, laying the groundwork to expand drilling on land and at sea in California.
Since losing the battle to overturn SB 1137 last summer, a lot has changed for the fossil fuel industry. For one, Trump is in office, plowing blindly forward with his plan to unleash so-called “energy dominance.” But it’s not just Trump. Governor Newsom has done a 180 on environmental justice, quietly undoing protections he once championed under pressure from the industry.
Let’s trace back the timeline. Several months ago, Trump and Newsom began attacking the California Coastal Commission, the agency that protects our coastline from further oil and gas drilling. Trump’s call to abolish the agency would eliminate one of the main hurdles to reopening California waters to offshore oil production, which has been banned since 1994.
More recently, the Trump administration turned its focus to California’s public lands, announcing plans to permit new oil drilling from the Bay Area to LA. Instead of fighting back, Newsom followed up last week with his own proposal to streamline permitting for oil and gas drilling at existing wells and exempt fossil fuel operations from environmental review. Our partners in the environmental justice movement called this move an “outrageous blank check.”
All of that is bad, and it reflects a huge, backward shift on energy policy in both Sacramento and DC. But two things haven’t changed. Californians still overwhelmingly reject fossil fuel industry misinformation and the market for oil and gas continues to shrink, despite Trump’s attempts to prop up a dying industry.
And that’s why I still believe in the movement for a California — and a world — beyond dangerous fossil fuels. For all of Trump’s bluster and Newsom’s cowardice, the transition to a clean energy economy is inevitable, it’s just a question of how we get there. Will we let fossil fuel billionaires poison the planet to make a few more billions, or will we plan a managed transition that puts our communities and our planet first? For decades, Californians have fought against Big Oil and won. We can do it again, and for the sake of the Earth, we must.
If you haven’t yet, please join me in urging California’s leaders to stand up to Trump and keep fighting for climate solutions today!
This blog first appeared in The Climate Center’s bi-weekly newsletter. To keep up with the latest climate news and ways to take action for a climate-safe future, subscribe today!
