(CN) — An oil industry group said Thursday it will be pulling its referendum challenging a California law that banned new oil wells near homes, schools and businesses from the state's November ballot. Instead, the group will now seek to overturn the law in court.
“Supporters of the energy shutdown can make unfounded claims in the press and in paid advertisements, but they can’t make those claims in court without evidence,” said California Independent Petroleum Association chairman Jonathan Gregory in a statement. “That’s why we are pivoting from the referendum to a legal strategy.”
The about-face means the 2022 law, which bans the drilling of new oil wells within 3,200 feet of homes, schools, hospitals, nursing homes and business, can finally go into effect.
Governor Gavin Newsom was quick to trumpet the turn of events, saying in a press release: "Big Oil saw what they were up against — and they folded, again. No parent in their right mind would vote to allow drilling next to daycares and playgrounds. This victory ends new harmful drilling in our communities and enforces common-sense pollution controls."
The California Independent Petroleum Association had been gathering signatures for the referendum, and had raised $20 million to try to convince voters that the ban would cost jobs and increase the price of energy.
But Newsom had lined up celebrities like Jane Fonda and former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to fight the referendum. At the campaign kickoff, Schwarzenegger had promised that the oil industry would be "terminated."
Members of the legislature had also been pressuring the industry group to drop its challenge. Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, who represents parts of South Los Angeles and Inglewood, introduced a bill that would have fined oil companies $10,000 for every day low-production oil wells are operating near homes and schools.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Bryan said he told the association that he would limit his bill just to Inglewood, where the largest urban oil field in America is still operational, if the group dropped their ballot initiative.
As of 2022, about 2.7 million Californians lived within 3,200 feet of an oil well. Although the law won't shut down the more than 28,000 existing neighborhood wells, it does subject them to stricter environmental regulations. Oil companies will also be banned from re-drilling or deepening their urban wells.
Studies have suggested that living near an active oil well can lead to adverse birth outcomes, respiratory diseases and higher rates of cancer. Residents living near drilling operations have complained about headaches, nose bleeds and skin irritation.
And that's when nothing goes wrong. In 2015, a gas leak in Aliso Canyon, near the Porter Ranch neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley, released over 107,000 tons of methane into the atmosphere in one of the worst natural gas leaks in U.S. history, causing numerous school children to receive treatment for severe nosebleeds.
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