Bucking Oil and Gas Lobby, LA County Readies to Ban Fossil Fuel Drilling

By Joseph Winters, Grist

When it comes to blocking oil and gas drilling, the Golden State has sometimes fallen short of its deep green reputation. But that may be changing after supervisors in Los Angeles County unanimously voted on Wednesday to end oil and gas drilling in the county’s unincorporated areas.

The move puts the nation’s most populous county on the path to becoming the first in the U.S. to ban existing oil and gas drilling. Supervisor Holly Mitchell, who made the motion along with Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, said the measure would help address climate and equity issues. Though there is not yet a timeline for revoking existing drilling permits, the vote could take more than 1,600 oil wells offline, including those that are located in the expansive Inglewood Oil Field, one of the largest urban drilling sites in the country.

“There are tens of thousands of people who live in very close proximity to oil wells, 73 percent of whom are people of color,” Mitchell told the Washington Post.