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California’s Environmental Double-Standard Exposed as The Amazon’s Destruction is Fueled by California

Activists and indigenous groups used a summit of South American leaders to highlight a campaign to phase out drilling in the world’s largest tropical rainforest. This growing movement aims to end oil drilling in the Amazon.


The largest buyer of oil from the Amazon rainforest is the “environmentally conscious” state of California. According to the New York Times, California buys more than fifty percent of the oil produced from the Amazon rainforest.


When leaders of eight Amazon nations gathered in Brazil for a summit on deforestation, they hosted a growing movement by civil society groups to phase out oil and gas development within the rainforest. The Amazon basin has seen renewed efforts to expand drilling as governments help meet the growing demand from California and foreign countries. 


Existing or planned oil and gas development blocks cover an estimated 250,000 square miles of undisturbed forest, home to over 12 million people. Activists and indigenous groups are seizing on several developments to stop expansion. Colombian President Gustavo Petro called for all Amazon nations to phase out oil and gas development, and Brazil’s environmental agency recently blocked an offshore drilling project. Ecuador is set to vote on a referendum to halt the development of a large oil field in a national park.


California’s stance presents a stark hypocrisy. While the state prides itself on being an environmental leader, it is complicit in the destruction of the Amazon rainforest by purchasing oil from the region. At the same time, California is working overtime to shut down its own domestic oil production, which operates under some of the strictest environmental and health laws in the world and is overseen by over 25 local, state, and federal agencies. This dual approach not only undermines California’s environmental claims but also exacerbates global environmental degradation.


For more information, contact Sean Wallentine.



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