Welcome to Boiling Point! My name is Tony Briscoe. I’m the air quality and environmental health reporter at the L.A. Times. I’m filling in for my colleague Sammy Roth, who is working hard to publish the next edition of his “Repowering the West” series. For much of California’s history, fossil fuel companies have profited handsomely from drilling wells and tapping the state’s deep oil and gas reserves.
“As a result, California is going to continue to increase its dependence on imported foreign crude rather than energy produced by Kern citizens,” said Rock Zierman, CEO of the California Independent Petroleum Assn. In light of the ruling, C.R.C. informed its investors that it would scale back drilling and that its oil production would decline 4-7% in 2024.