Big Oil is posting record profits. It’s time for California lawmakers to get moving and advance legislation to curb excessive refinery profits and prevent oil companies from ripping people off while they pollute the planet.The governor has for months waged a vocal, public battle against Big Oil, saying Friday that “greedy oil companies” would “rather put our health at risk than sacrifice a single cent of their billions in profits.
We can certainly hope that California voters will ultimately uphold the law and stop the oil industry from continuing to make money from drilling near homes, schools, parks and healthcare facilities under the guise that such practices will lower gas prices. But two years is too long to wait for health protections, especially considering how much the industry has already distorted the referendum process.Oil companies are seeking to overturn a law to ban new drilling near homes and schools. Gov.
Stop the Energy Shutdown, the oil industry-backed committee leading the referendum campaign, collected more than 687,000 valid signatures, exceeding the number required to get it on the ballot. But the process was clouded by disinformation, including complaints that signature gatherers were providing false or, for example, by telling them the petition was to prevent drilling near homes and schools — the opposite of what it would do.
The California Independent Petroleum Assn., the industry lobbying group leading the campaign, has also claimed falsely that the buffer zone was instituted
Then shut it down! You can’t have it both ways. Stop complaining! Tell Newsom to shut it down! Then face the repercussions of your stupid failed economic energy policies.