LA Bans New Oil Well, Phases Out Existing Ones

The Los Angeles City Council has voted unanimously to immediately ban new oil and gas extraction and requires all such existing operations to halt production within 20 years, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Council President Paul Krekorian described the ordinance as a "monumental step" in the history of the city and its relationship with oil, stating that it "may be the most important step towards environmental justice that this council has taken in recent memory."

Los Angeles, which was built by a once-booming petroleum industry, currently has 26 oil and gas fields with more than 5,000 wells, some of which are idle, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Studies have found that living near wells, which emit likely carcinogens, contribute to health problems such as respiratory issues and preterm births. These problems have particularly affected low-income communities of color, according to environmental justice activists.

Stand Together Against Neighborhood Drilling (STAND-LA), a group of community groups that pushed for the law, released a statement that "black, Latinx and other communities of color currently living near polluting oil wells and derricks in South LA and Wilmington will eventually breathe easier."

But the group did not attend the City Council meeting and news conference, declaring that it could not support "business as usual" while Gil Cedillo and Kevin De León, who are being pressured to resign following their role in an incendiary closed-door conversation last year, are still on the council.

STAND-LA said that "our city and this council must own up to the anti-Blackness that created policies hat allowed oil drilling in neighborhoods in the first place and that fostered an environment where such a horrific example of racism and corruption could occur between council members," the Los Angeles Times reported.

The oil industry opposed the city council's decision, warning that it will harm the city's finances and make Los Angeles more dependent on foreign oil.

The California Independent Petroleum Association, a trade group representing over 300 independent crude oil and natural gas producers, sent a letter in October that disputed claims of "detrimental health effects" from oil and gas drilling and production operations and said that the industry brings in an estimated $250 million to the city's general funds.