NERN – West Coast
Q&A: California Drilling Setback Law Suspended by Oil Industry Ballot Maneuver. The Law’s Author Won’t Back Down
State Sen. Lena Gonzalez had a lot to celebrate at a press conference last fall when California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a sweeping package of bills to accelerate the state’s transition to clean energy. As California moves toward a fossil fuel-free future, “it’s imperative that Latino, Black, Indigenous and other communities of color know that […]
Read MoreConfronting California’s Water Crisis
Californians are still grappling with the aftermath of powerful storms that triggered dangerous flooding and mudslides across the state, even as the West’s unprecedented megadrought persists. These rapid shifts between extreme drought and flood offer a preview of the “climate whiplash” researchers predict will only get worse. These head-spinning shifts will severely strain California’s antiquated […]
Read MoreCalifornia Activists Redouble Efforts to Hold the Oil Industry Accountable on Neighborhood Drilling
By all appearances, California environmental justice leaders should be taking a victory lap to celebrate recent laws and policies designed to rein in oil industry pollution and profiteering. On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors officially approved an ordinance, unanimously passed in September, to prohibit new oil and gas wells and phase out […]
Read MorePetition Circulators Are Telling California Voters that a Ballot Measure Would Ban New Oil and Gas Wells Near Homes. In Fact, It Would Do the Opposite
Beth Harvey had just finished grocery shopping when someone asked her to sign a petition outside a Trader Joe’s in an affluent Oakland neighborhood. The petition would keep oil companies from drilling near homes, schools and other sensitive sites, the canvasser told her. “I was relying on what he said,” Harvey recalled. “I was putting […]
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