In historic move, Los Angeles bans new oil wells, phases out existing ones

The Los Angeles City Council voted Friday to phase out all oil drilling in L.A. and ban new wells, a historic move in a city that was built by a once-booming petroleum industry and whose residents have suffered with decades of environmental consequences as a result. According to the city’s planning department, Los Angeles has 26 oil and gas fields and more than 5,000 oil and gas wells. California Los Angeles moves to end oil drilling in the city The Los Angeles City Council votes to take steps to phase out oil production in the city, a move celebrated by environmentalists. Stand Together Against Neighborhood Drilling, or STAND-L.A., a group of community groups that helped spearhead the law, said Friday in a statement that “Black, Latinx and other communities of color currently living near polluting oil wells and derricks in South L.A. and Wilmington will eventually breathe easier.” Still, STAND-L.A.’s members skipped Friday’s City Council meeting and a subsequent news conference with several council members, saying that they couldn’t support “business as usual” while Gil Cedillo and Kevin De León, who are facing calls to resign following their role in a 2021 incendiary closed-door conversation, remain on the council.