To protect California’s health and future, Gov. Newsom must act to phase out oil

As Gov. Gavin Newsom prepares for his 2020 State of the State speech – in which he will set the tone for the next decade of California climate action – oil wells drill for climate-changing fossil fuels in neighborhoods, schoolyards and farm fields across our state. Despite its reputation as a global leader in responding to climate change, California is one of the largest oil producers in the nation.

Oil wells blanket my own hometown in Kern County, where we breathe in some of the worst air quality in the nation. Heat waves and wildfires, both intensified by climate change, only make air quality worse.

The California Air Resources Board is monitoring air quality near oil and gas facilities in Kern County. A Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment study found living near certain types of oil and gas facilities is linked to headaches, respiratory issues and nose bleeds.

But Kern County is more than a headquarters for California’s toxic oil industry. Our community is a wellspring for the youth-led climate justice movement.

That’s why we are organizing a movement for climate justice in Kern County and across California: to defend our communities from the oil companies that willingly sacrifice them. During last September’s Global Climate Strike, Kern County youth organized a strike to urge action on climate change, but also to bring attention to a massive oil leak in our own community.

Kern youth are fighting this injustice. Researchers have estimated roughly 17 million people in the United States live within a mile of an oil or gas well. Many are in California. Homes, schools and parks in Wilmington, South Los Angeles, Oxnard, and Richmond are located dangerously close to oil wells or refineries.

Dozens of youth climate leaders and organizers across California, including myself, have formed the #CAYouthVsBigOil campaign and delivered a joint letter to Gov. Newsom outlining how he can act to phase out our state’s toxic, climate-changing fossil fuel industry – starting in his State of the State address. We are coming together to focus our activism on California’s climate justice weakness: oil.

Our multi-organizational, cross-state alliance brings together youth leaders from environmental justice communities, Sunrise Movement chapter leaders, local youth climate strike organizers and young environmental activists from Kern Country to the Central Coast, from San Diego to Sacramento. Our letter demands that the governor use his power to protect us from fossil fuel industries that pollute our climate and our communities.

As Newsom delivers his address, youth across California will be listening for three key actions to end the climate crisis:

▪ By rolling out a statewide 2,500-foot buffer around new oil and gas wells, he can keep oil drilling out of our communities and pollution out of our lungs.

▪ By committing to end permitting for fossil fuel projects, he can protect our climate future.

▪ By dropping existing oil production and planning a just transition to clean, job-creating energy, he can model climate justice policy for the world.

Until Gov. Newsom addresses the public health and climate impacts of California’s toxic oil industry, we will continue to organize and mobilize. California’s youth have big plans for climate action in 2020 – and we hope our governor does, too. Our future depends on it.

This story was originally published January 26, 2020 at 5:00 AM.