REACTION TO COMMITTEE VOTE

The following quotes are excerpts from statements issued after Tuesday’s defeat of Senate Bill 467, which would phase out several common oilfield techniques and create a 2,500-foot buffer around oil and gas sites.

“A common theme in all of the communities we work in is that politicians would never make the decisions that they make if they lived in the same conditions as frontline communities. They wouldn’t put oil and gas this close to schools the way they are in Shafter. They wouldn’t put an oil pump in their own backyard like in Arvin.” — Cesar Aguirre, community organizer with the Central California Environmental Justice Network

“Lawmakers understood how this unconstitutional bill could expose the state to billions in lawsuits, would hurt the state’s climate leadership, and eliminate more than 50,000 quality careers in parts of the state that are struggling in this post-pandemic economy. We will continue to oppose bills that only increase our reliance on foreign oil which drives up gas prices, contributes to pollution in our crowded ports, and is produced without California’s environmental protections or humanitarian values.” — Rock Zierman, CEO of the California Independent Petroleum Association trade group

“California can no longer call itself a climate or racial justice leader while continuing to perpetuate environmental racism that has long oppressed generations of Black, Indigenous, and Latinx communities along with other communities of color and low-income communities.” — Juan Flores, community organizer with the Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment, one of the SB 467’s co-sponsors

“Yet again, elected politicians have revealed their prioritization of fossil fuel talking points and interests over the people they are supposed to represent. Now, more and more Californians are waking up to the realities of environmental injustice and their state’s legacy of environmental racism, which impacts low-income and Black, Latinx, and Indigenous communities more than any other.” — Kobi Naseck, Coalition Coordinator, Voices in Solidarity Against Oil in Neighborhoods (VISIÓN), another of the bill’s co-sponsors

“Blanket bans are rarely good public policy, and SB 467 would have eliminated thousands of jobs, devastated regional economies and hurt workers and families throughout the state. There are better ways to balance the environment, energy, equity and the economy, and our people, ideas and experience are critical to developing those solutions.” — Catherine Reheis-Boyd, president of the Western States Petroleum Association trade group

“The notion that California has the safest oil operations flies in the face of the everyday realities of communities across the (Central) Valley, who are sheltering in place next to toxic sources like oil wells, refineries, and leaky pipelines that harm their health and quality of life. Every delay is justice denied for some of the most polluted communities of color and low income communities in our region. We will continue to hold decision makers at all levels accountable for the lack of health protections and the urgent need for a just transition plan for workers and communities.” — Catherine Garoupa White, executive director of the Central Valley Air Quality Coalition