By Sofia Carrasco, Special for CalMatters

"Amanda
Amanda Millstein, a pediatrician from Richmond, participates in a rally at the California Environmental Protection Agency offices in Sacramento on Thursday, June 23, 2022. Photo by Rahul Lal for CalMatters

This commentary was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

Guest Commentary written by

The health and safety of millions of Californians is in jeopardy thanks to a law that bypassed nearly the entire legislative process — bargained and brought to you by Big Oil. 

The law, Senate Bill 237, was introduced and passed in a hurried 72-hour session. This is the legal minimum amount of time a bill must exist before it passes. By avoiding input from key stakeholders, Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democrats are participating in a concerning trend, one which allows industries to lobby and manipulate their way into backdoor deals. 

The California’s Democratic leadership is revoking hard-earned environmental regulations, gifting industries and special interest groups that continue to exacerbate the climate crisis, poison communities and provide false solutions to affordability concerns.

I am only 16, and lead a climate action campaign, Youth v. Oil, run by high schoolers across San Diego County. I reflect numerous organizers who were given no chance to stand up against this legislative attack on our environment.

To understand SB 237, it’s important to understand how Newsom went from lauding an end to oil drilling in 2024 to proudly advancing crude production. 

A managed fossil fuel transition — which, according to California’s Climate Action Plan, would create 4 million jobs and slash planet-warming gases by 85% — requires the closure of oil refineries as the state becomes more reliant on renewable sources.

The transition to clean energy must be equitable, including plans that consider the local tax base and employment. Yet in response to an earlier law intended to maintain fuel stability amid price spikes, oil companies announced sudden closures of two key refineries without adequate justifications or transition plans.

These refineries cause cancer and asthma in their communities, all while taking advantage of bailouts and tax loopholes. Instead of confronting responsibility for cleanup and retirement costs, these companies leveraged the threat of higher gasoline prices and bent leaders to their agenda. Combined with the estimated $18 million the oil industry spent on lobbying in California over the first half of the year, a zero-sum narrative was developed: Gut your life-saving protections or we’ll drive these refineries out of state. 

Companies like Valero are not being “forced out of business.” They are making record profits, yet fear the unavoidable decline they will experience in upcoming decades. New oil well permits have decreased from 2,664 in 2019 to merely 73 in 2024, according to Consumer Watchdog. In July, California reached the milestone of renewable energy providing two-thirds of the state’s electricity.

Reversing this kind of remarkable progress is not inevitable — it’s a choice that Newsom and others are now making.

California’s geology produces some of the most climate-damaging oil in the world — most in oil fields are already depleted. But companies like Chevron push rampant disinformation to convince us otherwise. And pushback against industry pollution, such as the campaign to end backyard oil drilling, is more popular than ever.

SB 237 did have opposition. Over 45 organizations signed a letter demanding that state lawmakers side with people over polluters, proposing a plan to stabilize oil supply and hold the industry accountable. Subsequently, the bill reduced its cutbacks to critical environmental review at drilling sites. But this is not enough. 

Backroom politics come at the expense of sickening the predominantly low-income communities closest to these facilities, as top companies reap profits. Under no circumstances should our government pass proposals with flimsy evidence and minimal public input.

With the passage of SB 237, Capitol lawmakers demonstrated what they’re willing to sacrifice. I urge them to follow paths advanced by environmental, economic and racial justice advocates — even the governor himself before this year.

We must invest in a responsible transition and expose this hypocritical dealmaking.

The climate crisis is my future. For countless others, it’s their present. Big Oil’s political donations are less important than the health of the 34 million Californians exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution.

Do better, Gov. Newsom.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.