California Environmental Justice Communities Score a Massive Victory Over Big Oil

Environmental justice communities across the state are celebrating after a stunning victory against Big Oil’s efforts to repeal California’s SB 1137 law, which aimed to protect communities from the harmful effects of nearby oil drilling. Despite a substantial financial investment of $61 million for the referendum campaign, the oil industry withdrew its ballot measure after facing opposition from a coalition of advocates, community leaders, and concerned citizens.

SB 1137 mandated stricter health and environmental standards for oil and gas operations within 3,200 feet of sensitive areas like neighborhoods, schools, and healthcare facilities. It prohibited new drilling in these zones and imposed enhanced safety measures on existing wells. With SB 1137 back in effect, oil and gas companies are now barred from drilling new wells or expanding existing ones within the designated health buffer zones. This protects millions of Californians from potential health hazards associated with oil emissions.

This is a big win for impacted communities. Nearly 30,000 oil and gas wells in California sit within 3,200 feet of homes, schools, hospitals, and other public areas, exposing nearly 3 million people, disproportionately communities of color, to emissions that can cause birth defects, respiratory illness, and cancer. An independent scientific advisory panel in 2021 advised California officials that a 3,200-foot setback between oil wells and sensitive receptors is the minimum distance to protect public health.

The group leading the charge, Campaign for a Safe and Healthy California, began with community leaders standing up to toxic oil drilling in their neighborhoods and has grown to include more than 400 organizations, labor unions, community and faith leaders, two Governors of California, public health groups, and environmental justice leaders from across California, working to hold oil companies accountable for creating a public health crisis, especially for communities of color.

In addition to the statewide coalition efforts, a campaign directed at California Latino communities launched in January of this year to counter the misinformation spread in Latino communities by Big Oil, and at the same time, educate and support frontline communities of color that have been directly impacted by the environmental injustice caused by oil companies. The campaign, Que No Te Engañen, was launched by the La Mesa coalition, made up of California grassroots environmental organizations such as Physicians for Social Responsibility Los Angeles, the Central California Environmental Justice Network, Comité Cívicos del Valle, an Imperial Valley environmental justice organization, and the LEAP Institute

A recent poll found that 70% of Latino voters said they were angry that oil companies are funding advocacy groups to lobby against climate policies. They are the most likely demographic to have heard of the oil and gas industry’s efforts to deceive them on climate change and attempt to shift responsibility for the climate crisis away from oil and gas companies.

According to a report by the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), more than 1.78 million Latinos live in areas where toxic air pollution from oil and gas facilities is so high that the cancer risk due to this industry alone exceeds EPA’s level of concern. Additionally, 1.81 million Latino individuals live within a half-mile of an oil or gas facility, with increased exposure to pollutants at a cost to their health from oil and gas air pollution.

Martha Dina Arguello, a steering committee member of both the Campaign for a Safe and Healthy California and Que No Te Engañen, commented: “Today, we celebrate this as a public health victory for all Californians living in the shadow of oil drilling. With this withdrawal, SB 1137 will go into immediate effect, bringing us one step closer to ensuring that frontline communities can breathe cleaner air.”

Overall, the withdrawal of Big Oil’s ballot measure marks a significant win for community health and environmental protection efforts in California, setting a precedent for future battles against corporate influence in policy-making.

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