Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson and Western Energy Alliance’s Kathleen Sgamma discuss the Biden administration’s energy policies in “The Evening Edit.”
The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously on Friday to ban the drilling of new oil and gas wells and phase out the use of existing ones over the next 20 years.
The city’s new ordinance is a victory for community and environmental groups, which had argued for decades that well pollution was harming the health of residents. Council members celebrated the vote as a victory for “environmental justice.”
“Hundreds of thousands of Angelenos have had to raise their children, go to work, cook their meals (and) go to neighborhood parks in the shadow of oil and gas production,” the city council president said. of Los Angeles, Paul Krekorian. “The time has come…when we will end oil and gas production in the city of Los Angeles.”
But opponents feared the new rules would lead to job losses and higher gasoline prices. Los Angeles already has one of the highest gas prices in the country at $4.89 a gallon for regular gasoline, well above the national average of $3.43, according to American Automobile. Association.
OIL INDUSTRY DIRECTOR RIPS BIDEN’S ‘WILLY-NILLY’ ENERGY POLICY, WARNS OF ANOTHER ‘MAJOR’ CRISIS IN COMING WEEKS
Council Speaker Paul Krekorian speaks during a City Council meeting at Los Angeles City Hall on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022 in Los Angeles. (Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images/Getty Images)
There are 26 oil and gas fields and more than 5,000 oil and gas wells in the city of Los Angeles, active and inactive, some of which are abandoned, according to the city planning commission. While traditionally these wells have been built in areas of heavy industry, many have been located in residential neighborhoods near community parks and schools. More than 500,000 Los Angeles County residents live within half a mile of an active oil well, City News Service reported.
Prior to the vote, the council heard public comments from groups supporting and opposing the ordinance.
EXCLUSIVE: REPUBLICANS INTRODUCE LEGISLATION TO TACKLE SEC DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO ESG
Children play basketball next to an oil well pump tank and jack, in the Wilmington neighborhood of Los Angeles, February 24, 2022. (ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Krekorian responded to gas price concerns, commenting that less than 1% of crude oil processed at Southern California refineries comes from wells in Los Angeles and saying the drilling loss will not impact local gas prices, according to City News Service.
However, California Governor Gavin Newsom has also proposed environmental regulations that would clamp down on oil drilling statewide. The governor wants to ban oil drilling within 3,200 feet of homes, schools, hospitals, nursing homes and other “sensitive places.” Newsom also proposed phasing out oil production by 2045 and ending the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035 to reduce fossil fuel demand.
DESANTIS CONGRATULATED FOR TAKING MONEY FROM BLACKROCK OVER ESG CONCERNS: ‘AN ILLEGAL LEFT-WING SCAM’
An oil pump jack operates in the Inglewood oilfield on January 28, 2022 in Los Angeles. (Mario Tama/Getty Images/Getty Images)
Oil and gas companies have spoken out against the Los Angeles order.
Warren Resources Chairman James A. Watt said in a statement that Warren intends “to use all available legal resources to protect our major investment from this illegal take” and asserted that the pollution from its operations was “equal to that of a fast food restaurant.”
“Warren has demonstrated to City Council and all other regulatory authorities that we are not a significant environmental source of pollution to the community,” Watt said.
Los Angeles City Planning proposed banning oil and gas wells after researchers from the University of Southern California published a study in 2021 detailing reports of health problems among residents of neighborhoods near wells. The study found that residents of the University Park and Jefferson Park areas reported significantly higher rates of wheezing, eye and nose irritation, sore throats and dizziness than neighbors living farther away. According to the US Census, these two communities are predominantly non-white with large black and Latino communities.
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The push to ban drilling in the city of Los Angeles is part of a regional effort to stop oil and gas extraction throughout Los Angeles County, with similar measures covering Culver City and unincorporated parts in Los Angeles County society adopted in 2021.
“In Los Angeles, we sit on the largest urban oil field in the world,” council member Marqueece Harris-Dawson said before the vote. “So if Los Angeles can do it, cities around the world can do it.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson and Western Energy Alliance’s Kathleen Sgamma discuss the Biden administration’s energy policies in “The Evening Edit.”
The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously on Friday to ban the drilling of new oil and gas wells and phase out the use of existing ones over the next 20 years.
The city’s new ordinance is a victory for community and environmental groups, which had argued for decades that well pollution was harming the health of residents. Council members celebrated the vote as a victory for “environmental justice.”
“Hundreds of thousands of Angelenos have had to raise their children, go to work, cook their meals (and) go to neighborhood parks in the shadow of oil and gas production,” the city council president said. of Los Angeles, Paul Krekorian. “The time has come…when we will end oil and gas production in the city of Los Angeles.”
But opponents feared the new rules would lead to job losses and higher gasoline prices. Los Angeles already has one of the highest gas prices in the country at $4.89 a gallon for regular gasoline, well above the national average of $3.43, according to American Automobile. Association.
OIL INDUSTRY DIRECTOR RIPS BIDEN’S ‘WILLY-NILLY’ ENERGY POLICY, WARNS OF ANOTHER ‘MAJOR’ CRISIS IN COMING WEEKS
Council Speaker Paul Krekorian speaks during a City Council meeting at Los Angeles City Hall on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022 in Los Angeles. (Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images/Getty Images)
There are 26 oil and gas fields and more than 5,000 oil and gas wells in the city of Los Angeles, active and inactive, some of which are abandoned, according to the city planning commission. While traditionally these wells have been built in areas of heavy industry, many have been located in residential neighborhoods near community parks and schools. More than 500,000 Los Angeles County residents live within half a mile of an active oil well, City News Service reported.
Prior to the vote, the council heard public comments from groups supporting and opposing the ordinance.
EXCLUSIVE: REPUBLICANS INTRODUCE LEGISLATION TO TACKLE SEC DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO ESG
Children play basketball next to an oil well pump tank and jack, in the Wilmington neighborhood of Los Angeles, February 24, 2022. (ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Krekorian responded to gas price concerns, commenting that less than 1% of crude oil processed at Southern California refineries comes from wells in Los Angeles and saying the drilling loss will not impact local gas prices, according to City News Service.
However, California Governor Gavin Newsom has also proposed environmental regulations that would clamp down on oil drilling statewide. The governor wants to ban oil drilling within 3,200 feet of homes, schools, hospitals, nursing homes and other “sensitive places.” Newsom also proposed phasing out oil production by 2045 and ending the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035 to reduce fossil fuel demand.
DESANTIS CONGRATULATED FOR TAKING MONEY FROM BLACKROCK OVER ESG CONCERNS: ‘AN ILLEGAL LEFT-WING SCAM’
An oil pump jack operates in the Inglewood oilfield on January 28, 2022 in Los Angeles. (Mario Tama/Getty Images/Getty Images)
Oil and gas companies have spoken out against the Los Angeles order.
Warren Resources Chairman James A. Watt said in a statement that Warren intends “to use all available legal resources to protect our major investment from this illegal take” and asserted that the pollution from its operations was “equal to that of a fast food restaurant.”
“Warren has demonstrated to City Council and all other regulatory authorities that we are not a significant environmental source of pollution to the community,” Watt said.
Los Angeles City Planning proposed banning oil and gas wells after researchers from the University of Southern California published a study in 2021 detailing reports of health problems among residents of neighborhoods near wells. The study found that residents of the University Park and Jefferson Park areas reported significantly higher rates of wheezing, eye and nose irritation, sore throats and dizziness than neighbors living farther away. According to the US Census, these two communities are predominantly non-white with large black and Latino communities.
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT FOX BUSINESS
The push to ban drilling in the city of Los Angeles is part of a regional effort to stop oil and gas extraction throughout Los Angeles County, with similar measures covering Culver City and unincorporated parts in Los Angeles County society adopted in 2021.
“In Los Angeles, we sit on the largest urban oil field in the world,” council member Marqueece Harris-Dawson said before the vote. “So if Los Angeles can do it, cities around the world can do it.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
