Three bills designed to speed the cleanup of oil wells — which are known to be a major source of air pollution and respiratory and other illnesses in the communities where they are located — are set for a momentous vote in the California Legislature in Sacramento. But opposition from Big Oil at this crucial moment is fierce, and well-funded thanks to the record profits of industrial corporations and the power of their lobbyists.
For their part, environmentalists, the promoters of these laws, have called for one of the last mobilizations of the legislative session and are calling on the community to participate in it and to support their efforts in every way possible. They deserve our attention.
The public event has been scheduled for Monday, August 26, at noon on the southwest corner of the State Capitol (corner of 10th and N St.), a usual place for public expressions in the California headquarters.
In other columns, I have discussed in detail the health problems caused by the environmental crisis, which are suffered most by low-income communities – where African Americans, immigrants, and Latinos abound – as well as the efforts that both legislators and dedicated activists have been investing in recent years to stop the deterioration process, to accelerate the improvement of our soils, and especially to make those responsible for this pay so that the victims receive the corresponding medical attention.
The three bills are:
AB 1866, by Gregg Hart, who represents Assembly District 37 based in Santa Barbara, is called the “Idle Well Cleanup Act” and would require oil companies to clean up their idle wells much faster than they currently do.
AB 2716, or the Low-Producing Well Accountability Act, by Isaac Bryan, who represents Assembly District 55, Culver City, would impose fines on companies that operate low-producing wells near homes in the Inglewood area. The penalty would be $10,000 a month for each well.
Finally, the Local Environmental Choice and Security Act, or AB 3233, by Assemblywoman Dawn Addis, representative of District 30 based in San Luis Obispo, whose goal is to increase the protections granted to local governments to “restrict oil and gas production in their jurisdictions.”
Both Addis and Bryan will participate in the meeting.
All three bills must be debated and voted on by the full Legislature before they are approved and made available to Governor Gavin Newsom for final approval.
Organizers are calling the joint event in support of the three bills “Make Polluters Pay,” and expect more than “20 climate, public health, and equal opportunity advocacy groups” to be in attendance, according to a press release issued Thursday. A list of participating groups is provided at the end of this report(1).
They also report that more than 100 organizations have expressed their support for the three bills.
Among those responsible for the mobilization in favor of the passage of these three laws and numerous additional environmental measures to protect the population are the activists behind the campaign “Que no te engañen” (Don’t be fooled) (in Spanish in the original). This is a coalition led by Physicians for Social Responsibility Los Angeles, Central California Environmental Justice Network, Comité Cívicos del Valle and Latino Equity Advocacy & Policy Institute (LEAP).
In an email, the organizers explained to me that “the campaign comes after the recent defeat of the oil industry in its attempt to repeal SB 1137, which restricts oil drilling near communities.” They added: “Public opposition forced the industry to withdraw its ballot measure after spending $61 million on it.” The opposition is led by lobbying groups representing the industry: the California Independent Petroleum Association and the Western States Petroleum Association (CIPA and WSPA, respectively).
I read how, in their statements before committees during the legislative process, representatives of these organizations questioned the information presented in the bill proposals, stated that both the legislators who proposed them and especially the grassroots organizations “simply do not understand the industry at all,” warned that in this way the United States would be handing the keys to China, insinuated that there are monetary interests for those who support the laws, and provided detailed information about the excessive costs that the implementation of these laws would supposedly entail.
In a column about an earlier event supporting these and other environmental laws, published here on May 21, I quoted state Sen. Caroline Menjívar, who “said that polluting companies made $9 billion in the past two years while releasing a billion metric gallons of pollution into the atmosphere.”
We must not forget this concrete, raw, real-life fact. Laws to combat environmental pollution are crucial to the survival of our communities. We must support them until they are finally approved. And then, we must ensure that they are respected. So that they are enforced.
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(1) These are the participating organizations: California Environmental Justice Alliance, Central California Environmental Justice Network, Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, Consumer Watchdog, California Environmental Voters, Sierra Club California, NextGen, The Climate Center, California Green New Deal Network, CA Youth vs. Big Oil, California Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC-CA), Greenpeace USA, Food and Water Watch, Climate Health Now, Last Chance Alliance, Oil & Gas Action Network, Sunflower Alliance, Protect Monterey County, Sacramento Climate Coalition, Third Act Sacramento, 350 Sacramento, 350 Bay Area Action