For Immediate Release: October 21, 2021

Contact: Milena Paez, milena.paez@nextgenpolicy.org

Today, following the Department of Geologic Energy Management’s (CalGEM) announcement of its draft rule to protect Californians from the dangers of oil drilling in close proximity to homes, schools, and other inhabited buildings, NextGen California’s Senior Policy Advisor David Weiskopf released the following statement: 

“We commend Governor Newsom and CalGEM for taking this vital step. Californians living with oil drilling operations in their backyards and near their kids’ schools have been fighting for years to establish the most basic protections for their families and communities. Until now, oil lobbyists have managed to thwart them in Sacramento.  As this rule winds its way through the regulatory process, Nextgen Policy will work to make it even stronger.  Enacting safety buffer zones for oil drilling will provide overdue, tangible, and visible action to hold oil companies accountable and end the damage they are doing to public health – especially in communities of color who have been denied justice for far too long.” 

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