Who benefits? Certainly not "we the people"
This is all about protecting the profits of the oil industry. Why else would the oil industry spend millions to avoid public health and safety reviews of new facility expansions which protect our air, soil, and water?
Industry hopes to overturn a recent decision by the Board of Supervisors to adopt a new ordinance that requires basic, modern health and safety reviews of new oil operations, be it drilling a new well or using different extraction techniques (like fracking).
This is all about protecting the profits of the oil industry. Why else would the oil industry spend millions to avoid public health and safety reviews of new facility expansions which protect our air, soil, and water?
Industry hopes to overturn a recent decision by the Board of Supervisors to adopt a new ordinance that requires basic, modern health and safety reviews of new oil operations, be it drilling a new well or using different extraction techniques (like fracking).
Many of Ventura County’s oil and gas permits were issued back in the 1940s, decades before our current health & safety standards. The Ventura County Board of Supervisors voted to protect our community’s air, soil and water by requiring a modern-day, commonsense review of oil facility expansions.
The county's new ordinance that the oil industry is desperate to overthrow does not shut down all drilling in Ventura County. It does not take away everyone’s jobs. It only asks that the oil industry play by the same rules as everyone else when drilling new wells or expanding operations. The new ordinance simply requires oil & gas companies to go through the same kind of permit review process that daycares, restaurants, wineries, film productions – and countless others – do to get their permits.
So why is the oil industry dragging the county into a costly, divisive ballot initiative during a pandemic?