LA Passes Motion to Begin Process of Phasing Out Oil Drilling City Wide

The Los Angeles City Council voted yesterday (1/26) 14-0 to pass a motion to begin the process of phasing out oil drilling citywide and provide a just transition to impacted workers. There is still work to do to ensure the phase-out and clean-up, but the vote today was historic and came after over a decade of community organizing. 

 

STANDLA, a coalition of frontline communities impacted by oil drilling, led this work, and Sierra Club proudly supported it. 

 

You can read the motion here (it's item 24). It directs the city to conduct an amortization study to determine the period of time in which we can legally phase out oil drilling. In the meantime, the motion bans new drilling and classifies oil drilling as nonconforming land use. 

 

A big shout out to the ESJ organizations, the Clean Break Committee, Sierra Club National Staff, and Barbara Hensleigh who represented the Sierra Club yesterday. And a huge thanks to everyone who has called in and signed petitions over the years.

---

Image: An oil pump jack operating in one of the many Los Angeles oil fields via CanvaPro