Wild West oil town erected at Capitol as legislators consider oil drilling expansion bill

On September 11, members of climate justice groups, including the Oil & Gas Action Network and Third Act Sacramento, staged what they called a “Wild West Oil Town” on the west lawn of the State Capitol.

Arrayed in cowboy hats and clothing, they erected three wooden representations of oil derricks and pumpjacks —to show what happens when oil lobbyists call the shots in Sacramento like they are doing right now.

As the Western States Petroleum Association, Chevron and other oil corporations spend record money on lobbying in Sacramento, the  Legislature is rushing through the biggest rollback of climate and safety protections in decades — what climate justice advocates call a “shady fossil fuel giveaway with zero transparency.”

The advocates talked to legislators and passersby, urging the Legislature to vote no on the oil drilling expansion bill, AB 237, a last-minute gut and amend that calls for expanded oil drilling in Kern County. The California legislature is slated to vote on this bill this morning.  

They held signs proclaiming, “No Review, No Oversight, This Is the Wild West” and “Big Oil Runs This Town,” and “No Bailouts for Refineries” and “Stop Trump’s Zombie Pipeline.”

“AB 237 treats Kern County as a sacrifice zone,” explained Ilonka Zlatar of the Oil and Gas Action Network. “Up to 2,000 new oil wells will be allowed each year.”

And there is a provision that if more oil wells are needed, they can increase this cap.

She noted that Kern County has the worst air quality of any county in the nation, according to the annual State of the Air report by the American Lung Association, and that expanding oil drilling will only make things worse

Methane has 80 times the climate-warming power of carbon dioxide, and is also highly flammable and prone to leaks. A recent Sierra Club report estimates that in Kern County alone, a total of 50,984 oil wells are actively leaking some amount of methane, harming the health and safety of nearby residents. 

“Methane is 80 times more potent than CO2 in a 20-year time frame — and will greatly contribute to more pollution and exacerbate the climate crisis,” Zlatar noted. “Big Oil is feeding into the hysteria about high gas prices in California with the news that two oil refineries are closing. But this bill won’t do anything about lowering gas prices.”

Big Three celebrate climate deal that would increase CA oil drilling

On Wednesday, the Big Three – Governor Newsom, Senator Pro Tem McGuire and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas —  celebrated their end of the session deal for “Landmark Clean Energy, Climate and Affordability Solutions” with a headline that declared, “California is delivering real and lasting energy savings for families, workers and businesses.”

“After months of hard work with the Legislature, we have agreed to historic reforms that will save money on your electric bills, stabilize gas supply, and slash toxic air pollution — all while fast-tracking California’s transition to a clean, green job-creating economy,” Newsom said in a statement.

But Jamie Court, Executive Director of Consumer Watchdog, strongly disagreed with Newsom’s assessment of the climate package.

“It’s a load of horse poop,” said Court. “The truth is 90% of the “solutions’ will drive up costs for gasoline and electricity.”

He pointed out his group’s many problems with the package: 

“The reauthorization of cap and trade without a ceiling on the price of carbon credits could add 60 cents to a gallon of gasoline.

“The replenishing of the state’s wildfire fund to protect negligent utilities with $9 billion will come right out of ratepayers’ pockets.

“The move to a Western regional grid will give regional power traders the power to increase electricity prices free of state control and anti-price gouging laws. Other regional markets, East Coast grid PJM and New England grid NISO, have experienced such huge increases in the price of electricity that a bi-partisan group of 9 governors are in open revolt.

“Rather than delivering clean energy and climate solutions, the package will open Kern County up to indiscriminate oil drilling, divorced from any needs of pipelines there to feed crude oil into Northern California refineries.  That hurts Kern County communities that had hoped for a future free from poisonous oil drilling, which is what Governor Newsom promised them less than a year ago.

“The deal also requires the Governor to remove the summer-time gasoline blend that has kept smog down in Los Angeles if it is estimated that it will increase gas prices.

“The package mandates a study of an insane idea to allow oil refiners to use the dirtiest gasoline if they pay a 25 cents per gallon tax. Don’t you think refiners will pass that on to consumers and Californians will pay more for dirty air with higher gas prices?” 

Action Alert from Last Chance Alliance:

Then on Friday, the Last Chance Alliance issued an urgent action alert regarding stopping SB 237:

Governor Newsom just dropped a reckless oil drilling bill (SB 237). It’s a rushed, last-minute giveaway to Big Oil that would expand drilling and gut hard-won community protections.

The legislature votes Saturday morning. We have only hours to make sure lawmakers hear the outrage of their constituents, not oil lobbyists.

More drilling won’t lower gas prices. But it will poison our communities, pollute our air and water, and accelerate climate disasters. 

This is an all-hands-on-deck moment. Lawmakers need to hear from you — loud and clear — before they vote. 

Call your legislators and tell them: NO on SB 237. 

Big Oil spends record millions to advance corporate polluters’ agenda

The reason why Big Oil is able to get Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Senate and Assembly to do their bidding at this time is due to the huge amounts of money they are pumping into lobbying California officials, as well as into political campaigns.

As I have documented in article after article, Big Oil has been spending record millions of dollars to stop climate legislation like the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act and to pass bad bills like the Governor's proposed legislation to exempt new oil drilling permits from environmental review.

In the second quarter of 2025, the oil and gas industry spent even more money lobbying state officials, a total of $9,206,886, than in the first quarter, stopping the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act and other climate legislation from moving forward: https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Lobbying/Employers/

That adds up to a total of over $18 billion that Big Oil has spent to gut climate laws, dodge cleanup and keep polluting in the first 6 months of the year.

As usual, the majority of this fossil fuel cash was spent by Chevron and the Western States Petroleum Association. Chevron spent even more money on lobbying in the second quarter, $3,889,907, than in the first quarter, coming in first in lobbying expenses, according to the California Secretary of State’s Cal Access website for disclosures by lobbyist employers.

Chevron has refused to respond to growing calls to boycott the company for its operation and co-ownership of Israeli-claimed fossil gas fields in the Mediterranean. At Chevron stations across the country, including in the Sacramento area and the San Francisco Bay Area, local human rights and environmental justice groups have been holding regular protests to highlight the company’s complicity in genocide, as well in environmental destruction and human rights violations across the globe.

The Western States Petroleum Association finished second in the oil industry lobbying expenses with $3,032,226 spent in the second quarter.

With the first two quarters of the year combined, Chevron has spent $7.6 million, while WSPA has spent $6.5 million in 2025 to date.

In addition, Sable Offshore, the corporation that plans to restart the pipeline that caused the devastating Refugio Oil Spill that fouled the Southern California coastline in 2015, spent $419,000 fighting AB1448, a bill that would prevent drilling on public lands, in the first two quarters.

In the first quarter of 2025, the oil and gas industry spent a total of $9,139,655 in according to disclosures on the California Secretary of State’s website.  

Chevron came in first with $3,758,914 spent, while the Western States Petroleum Association finished second with $3,471,879 spent from January 1 through March 31. That’s well over $7 million between those two organizations alone. Again, much of that money was spent on opposing the Climate Superfund Act and other climate bills in 2025's first quarter.

Chevron and the Western States Petroleum Association spend more than any other corporate lobbying organizations in Sacramento every year.

Last year the Western States Petroleum Association placed first in the Big Oil lobbying spending spree with $17.4 million, while Chevron came in second with $14.2 million. Spending by the Western States Petroleum Association and Chevron alone shattered the previous record, coming in at $31.6 million in 2024, according to data compiled by the Last Chance Alliance: https://lastchancealliance.org/big-oil-smashes-annual-lobbying-spend-records-to-combat-climate-justice-policy-in-2024/

WSPA and the oil companies wield their power in 8 major ways: through (1) lobbying; (2) campaign spending; (3) serving on and putting shills on regulatory panels; (4) creating Astroturf groups; (5) working in collaboration with media; (6) sponsoring awards ceremonies and dinners, including those for legislators and journalists; (7) contributing to non profit organizations; and (8) creating alliances with labor unions, mainly construction trades.