Climate Advocates Urge Governor, Legislative Leaders to Stop Selling Out to Big Oil

While Governor Gavin Newsom has very skillfully trolled Trump on social media, drawing praise from people all over the country, he and the California Legislature have at the same time incurred the wrath of environmental justice advocates for pushing an array of controversial bills that they consider to amount to “selling out to Big Oil.”

On Wednesday morning, climate advocates representing a coalition of 140 organizations held a press conference on the Capitol lawn calling out Governor Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers for reversing course on their promises to take concrete steps against Big Oil that would move California towards a clean energy future.

Newsom and legislative leaders are trying to ramrod environmentally destructive bills through the Legislature, including one that would expand oil drilling in California and another that would extend cap and trade through 2045 without amendments to spending guardrails, emission caps and regulatory oversight.

Melissa Romero, Policy Advocacy Director with the California Environmental Voters, opened the press conference and introduced the speakers.

Following Romero, the speakers were: Raquel Mason, Senior Legislative Manager, California Environmental Justice Alliance; Sean Bothwell, Executive Director, California Coastkeeper Alliance; Asha Sharma, State Policy Manager, Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability; and Tyler Earl, Senior Staff Attorney, Communities for a Better Environment.

The renewed cry for state leaders to protect California and its residents from the devastating climate and environmental impacts of fossil fuel production comes as Newsom signals a reversal on his promise to shut down oil refineries in the state, and ahead of a joint legislative hearing on a package of bills that would make it easier for Big Oil to drill, threatening California’s environment and climate progress, according to a press statement from the groups.

“Our Governor has shown he can be a strong national voice, and now Californians need that same leadership here at home on issues that are important to voters, like clean water and clean air,” said Melissa Romero, Policy Advocacy Director of California Environmental Voters. “That means ensuring clean, affordable energy that lowers bills and safeguarding clean water so every community can thrive in the face of climate change.”

“California is supposed to be a beacon of hope, showing the rest of the nation what is possible when you have courage,” Romero continued. “The good news is, it’s not too late! We can still take bold action to ensure future generations don’t grow up next to oil refineries, breathe toxic air, drink polluted water, or play in toxic soil.”

“We can make California healthier and more affordable by protecting people from climate disasters, lowering health costs tied to pollution, and doubling down on making electric cars and trucks affordable and available to people to clean up our air,” she observed.

Cap and trade must be reformed to put people first

Raquel Mason, Senior Legislative Manager of the California Environmental Justice Alliance, exposed the need for legislators to focus on affordability for the state’s residents, not oil companies and other corporate polluters.

“Lawmakers promised a legislative session focused on affordability, yet what we have seen is a commitment to the status quo with more profits for polluters while communities continue to bear the steep health and financial costs of pollution,” said Mason. “Cap and trade must be reformed to put people first. Poverty and inequality are on the rise and growing because of worsening climate change. Reforming Cap-and-Trade is an opportunity to create a more equitable and just future for communities bearing the brunt of the climate crisis with their lives and their pocketbooks.”

“Exempting mega-polluters from environmental review won’t build more housing. Lawmakers thought they could hoodwink us, but they were wrong,” argued Asha Sharma, State Policy Manager, Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability.  “California communities are demanding a fix to SB 131 NOW because communities are already paying a steep price for smokestacks, chemical plants, and superfund sites upstream from our neighborhoods.”

“Clean water access is a right, not a privilege. Governor Newsom and the Legislature must take bold action to protect Californians’ right to clean water while the rest of the nation retreats during the Trump Administration,” said Sean Bothwell, Executive Director for the California Coastkeeper Alliance. “Under Trump, over 600,000 miles of California streams and up to 96 percent of our wetlands are at risk of losing federal Clean Water Act protections. If California doesn’t step up and protect our water now, no one will.  Pass Senate Bill 601, the Right to Clean Water Act!”

“Big Oil makes record profits by cutting corners and putting our health and safety at risk. Now, it has found a twisted way to profit off the transition away from oil: by threatening massive fuel shortages if state leaders don’t gut decades of health and safety regulations. This is a classic shakedown and our leaders must stop it,” said Tyler Earl, Senior Staff Attorney with Communities for a Better Environment.

“Demand for gasoline is falling and refineries will inevitably close at some point, so it is well past time for lawmakers to plan and implement a managed decline that prevents price spikes, protects fence-line communities, and ensures a just transition for refinery workers. Otherwise, Big Oil will continue to extort the state at the expense of everyone, particularly the Black and brown communities who live near oil infrastructure,” Earl concluded.

After the press conference, the groups went into a legislative hearing to voice their opposition to the Big Oil-backed bills. Frontline advocates said more drilling would mean more destruction, toxic pollution, and harm to communities in the oil drilling regions of the state. 

Cesar Aguirre of the Central California Environmental Justice Network shared with legislators his story of living next door to oil and gas drilling.

“The truth is, California oil production is in its final chapter, and the fossil fuel industry is leaving a legacy of destruction in its wake. To truly protect us from rising gas prices, we need a wholistic managed transition plan and continued progress on reducing demand,” said Aguirre.

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, according to the California Secretary of State’s Cal Access website for disclosures by lobbyist employers: cal-access.sos.ca.gov/...

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 for the oil and gas industry.

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: cal-access.sos.ca.gov/...

The oil and gas industry spent a total of $9,139,655 in the first quarter of 2025, according to disclosures on the California Secretary of State’s website: cal-access.sos.ca.gov/...

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.

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. 

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: lastchancealliance.org/...