L.A. Planning Commission Looks at Policy to Ban New & Existing Oil Production Activities

Last week the Los Angeles City Planning Commission held a meeting on a proposed ordinance to amend the Los Angeles Municipal Code “to prohibit new oil and gas drilling activities and make existing extraction a nonconforming use in all zones.”

After a parade of community organizers and activists spoke, Hector Barajas, spokesperson for Native Oil Producers and Employees of California (NOPEC), addressed this issue, reminding the City that the ordinance violates vested property rights and involves regulatory overreach.

He also addressed the concerns of the activists by stating that the proposed ordinance wasn’t about the climate, cleaner air, or healthier neighborhoods, because all this proposal would do is import oil from foreign nations. Los Angeles, along with the state of California, is already buying 50% of the oil pulled from the Amazon Rainforest.

How is that better for the environment?

How is oil that is completely exempt from California’s environmental regulations better for the air or neighborhoods?

NOPEC reminded the City of Los Angeles that, under CEQA, it is required to conduct a complete EIR to evaluate and mitigate the environmental harms associated with increased foreign tanker traffic, a key point raised by the Los Angeles Times Editorial Board last year.

Finally, NOPEC reminded the City of Los Angeles that they currently face a $1 billion deficit. How do they plan to pay out the hundreds of billions in illegal takings claims if their ordinance is successful?

NOPEC successfully sued the City of Los Angeles last year to overturn a similar ordinance they passed. Should this ordinance pass, NOPEC is exploring another legal challenge.