LA: Time to Cease Oil Drilling in Our Backyards and Become a Leader in Green Energy

In 2019, the City of Los Angeles released its sustainability plan that included a commitment to power all the city’s energy sectors -- electricity, buildings, and transportation -- with carbon-free sources of energy by 2050. These ambitious goals will go a long way toward combating climate change, but we can’t keep taking one step forward and two steps back. The City of Los Angeles continues to allow oil drilling in neighborhoods which is bad for the environment and public health, especially for those living next door to an oil rig. 

In Los Angeles there are hundreds of oil rigs that are currently active and drilling/extracting oil and some even sit next to people’s backyards. I find it appalling that our city has continued to allow drilling that makes people sick while at the same time stating they want to move to renewable energy by 2050. It seems backwards to continue to allow drilling. Studies have shown that living next to oil wells can result in worse pregnancy and birth outcomes, migraine headaches, asthma exacerbations, loss of smell, respiratory illness, and psychological stress. In the City of Los Angeles Basin, 230,000 people live within 2,500 feet of an active oil and gas well. I oppose oil drilling because, not only do I want people to be healthy, I also believe investing in green energy will create new jobs while moving forward to a cleaner, more sustainable future for Los Angeles. 

The oil industry is currently deciding how much money to pour into our local elections to protect their political power and drilling sites. Currently, our city does not have any agency with the authority to provide oversight of the hundreds of oil rigs currently operating. The career politicians in the city and county have allowed the drilling to continue for years and have no plans to even implement oversight, let alone stop the drilling. Research shows that the impacts of fossil fuel infrastructure disproportionately impact working class communities of color, who are exposed to air toxins emitted from oil development and transport. The oil industry knows that many politicians say they want to do something about climate change but continue to accept donations from the oil industry. If we truly want a better environment for our children and quality green jobs, then maybe we should stop recycling politicians and focus on renewable energy. 

People often think of climate change as a national or international issue, but cities and counties can play a major role in combating climate change while at the same time help create a pathway for more green energy and jobs. The City of Los Angeles can help support green industries and create new ones by looking at abandoned factories and manufacturing sites in the city and incentivizing green industries to move in.  

We need to target industries that help us achieve zero waste in manufacturing, in transportation emissions, in building, and on and on. LA could become the solar power manufacturing center of the country. We can enact regulations requiring rideshare services to use Electric Vehicles or Hybrids within the city boundaries. We have already started creating jobs and industries that are better for the environment. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, California’s solar power industry employs nearly twice as many people as our oil and gas industry. We could partner with community colleges and trade unions to train more workers for green jobs in renewable energy and environmental management jobs. 

As Americans continue to struggle to find decent paying jobs in a country with the highest share of workers earning lower pay than all similarly rich nations, jobs with green energy sectors break this trend. Green jobs, under the standard definition, for example, are more likely to be middle-class jobs than non-green jobs. They are less likely to be low-paying than non-green jobs; “low-wage” workers in green jobs earn $5–$7 more per hour than low-wage workers nationally. (Mark Muro, Adie Tomer, Ranjitha Shivaram, and Joseph Kane, “Advancing Inclusion through Clean Energy Jobs,” Brookings Institution, April 2019.) 

As the chasm between the 1% and everyone else widens, green jobs can help combat that trend. We are one of the largest cities in America and when we make clean energy choices, our environment and the livelihood of workers will improve. Let’s do more.  

There are so many positives steps we can take, but we need leaders with vision. And leaders with the backbone to stand up to the oil and gas industry. I will be one of those leaders. 

(Grace Yoo is a community leader and attorney who is currently running for Los Angeles City Council’s District 10.) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.