Activists unfurl banners calling on Newson to stand up to Big Oil, stop oil drilling expansion
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| Photo by Dan Bacher. | |
By Dan Bacher |
Sacramento - As the California Legislature returned to session after the summer recess on Monday, a group of climate and environmental activists unfurled four blue and yellow banners proclaiming “Newson Stand Up To Big Oil” in the Capitol rotunda.
While they held the banners aloft, they chanted, “When Big Oil is on the attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back,” and other chants urging the Governor and Legislature to not cave into Big Oil pressure to pass bills that would expand oil drilling in California.
“The protest was held today because the Governor and Legislature are considering bills proposing more oil drilling in California in response to refinery closures,” said Ilonka Zlatar of the Oil and Gas Action Network. “They are trying to roll back the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and other environmental laws.”
Food & Water Watch California Director Nicole Ghio, also commented on the significance of the action in a statement.
“Today we are sending the clear message that Californians will not stand by while self-appointed climate leaders in both the legislature and governor’s mansion capitulate to industry pressure, endangering our health and our climate in the process,” Ghio said. “This is not the time to back down in the face of corporate greed, it’s the time to fight even harder for the safe, clean and sustainable future free from pollution that Californians deserve.”
The governor's office circulated a legislative proposal in July that would dramatically expand oil drilling across the state and undermine health protections and community input in the review process, according to Ghio.
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Two of the oil industry-backed bills moving through the session this year — AB 881 and SB 614 —are expected to be heard in the Appropriations Committee soon.
“These bills would create a pathway to prematurely lift California’s 2022 moratorium on CO2 pipelines and carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects, which could put California communities already burdened by pollution at more riskof health and safety harms,” according to Ghio.
“California’s moratorium on CO2 pipelines was intended to protect us from the lack of federal pipeline regulations,” said Food & Water Watch Northern California Organizer Isabel Penman. “At a time when our federal government is stripping away our protections at every turn, why are we even considering lifting the ones we do have.
“Lifting the moratorium would put communities at risk of incredibly dangerous, or even potentially deadly, CO2 leaks and could speed up the greenlighting of the failing fossil fuel industry schemes like carbon capture and storage. We simply can’t afford to risk the safety of our communities,” Penman noted.
Dr. Goli Sahba, a retired physician with Third Act Sacramento and the Sacramento Climate Coalition, emphasized that millions of Californians are at risk of the increasing adverse health impacts of expanded oil drilling and fossil fuel burning if the legislation is able to pass through the Legislature and go to the Governor’s Desk.
“The consequences of increased fossil fuel extraction are very real. They include increased risks of asthma, cardiovascular events, MI, strokes, dementia and pre-term births,” explained Sahba.
Informational hearing on gasoline supply set for Aug. 20
Legislators are also considering weakening refinery regulations, yet another hand out to an industry already raking in record profits while polluting the air, water, and climate.
On Wednesday, August 20, the legislature is holding an informational hearing in Sacramento on California’s gasoline supply. However, advocates note that behind the technical title is a very real threat: the hearing will likely give political cover to these disastrous proposals, according to an action alert from the Last Chance Alliance: https://lastchancealliance.org
The hearing starts at 1:30 PM in the Swing Space, Room 1100, and there will be time for public comments.
Green California is also hosting a press conference and rally at 10 AM on the west steps of the Capitol.
Big Oil lobbying spending spree continues in Sacramento
In the second quarter of 2025, the oil and gas industry spent even more money lobbying state officials, a total of $9,206,886, than in the first quarter, stopping the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act and other climate legislation from moving forward: cal-access.sos.ca.gov/...
As usual, the majority of this fossil fuel cash was spent by Chevron and the Western States Petroleum Association. Chevron spent even more money on lobbying in the second quarter, $3,889,907, than in the first quarter, coming in first in lobbying expenses.
Chevron has refused to respond to growing calls to boycott the company for its operation and co-ownership of Israeli-claimed fossil gas fields in the Mediterranean. At Chevron stations across the country, including in the Sacramento area and the San Francisco Bay Area, local human rights and environmental justice groups have been holding regular protests to highlight the company’s complicity in genocide, as well in environmental destruction and human rights violations across the globe.
The Western States Petroleum Association finished second in the oil industry lobbying expenses with $3,032,226 spent in the second quarter.
The oil and gas industry spent a total of $9,139,655 in the first quarter of 2025, according to disclosures on the California Secretary of State’s website.
Chevron came in first with $3,758,914 spent, while the Western States Petroleum Association finished second with $3,471,879 spent from January 1 through March 31. That’s well over $7 million between those two organizations alone. Again, nuch of that money was spent on opposing the Climate Superfund Act and other climate bills in 2025's first quarter.
With the first two quarters of the year combined, Chevron has spent $7.6 million, while WSPA has spent $6.5 million in 2025 to date..
Chevron and the Western States Petroleum Association spend more than any other corporate lobbying organizations in Sacramento every year.
Last year the Western States Petroleum Association placed first in the Big Oil lobbying spending spree with $17.4 million. while Chevron came in second with $14.2 million. Spending by the Western States Petroleum Association and Chevron alone shattered the previous record, coming in at $31.6 million in 2024.
WSPA and the oil companies wield their power in 8 major ways: through (1) lobbying; (2) campaign spending; (3) serving on and putting shills on regulatory panels; (4) creating Astroturf groups; (5) working in collaboration with media; (6) sponsoring awards ceremonies and dinners, including those for legislators and journalists; (7) contributing to non profit organizations; and (8) creating alliances with labor unions, mainly construction trades.
Big Oil lobbyists and CEOs have often served on state advisory and regulatory panels and commissions.
For example, Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the president and CEO of WSPA, served as the chair of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create “marine protected areas” in Southern California waters from 2009 to 2012 at the same she was lobbying for new offshore drilling off the California Coast. She also served on the task forces to create “marine protected areas” on the Central Coast, North Central Coast and North Coast from 2004 to 2012.
#8647 #NoKings #ProDemocracy
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