The California climate emergency

We must stop drilling for oil and gas if we want to maintain a livable planet. Unfortunately, greedy oil and gas companies continue to extract every last drop, putting the planet on a dangerous course to render our beloved California unlivable.

Take action

The science is clear

As one of the world’s largest economies and a major oil and gas producer, California has an important role to play in building a future beyond fossil fuels and showing the rest of the world that a sustainable clean energy future is possible.

That’s why Greenpeace USA’s California Campaign works alongside frontline communities, local activists, like-minded organizations, and elected officials to:

• Educate and mobilize tens of thousands of Californians around the climate emergency; 
• Bring attention to wildfires, droughts, heat, and other extreme weather events fueled by the climate crisis; 
• Replace broken political systems that polluters exploit with people-powered democracy that works for all; 
• Uplift a just transition for oil workers and communities that ensure no one is left behind on the pathway to a clean energy economy; and 
• Demand politicians use their power to maintain health buffer zones between toxic drilling and where people live, work, and play as an important step on the way to a complete phase out of fossil fuel production in the state.

Use this interactive map to see if you are one of the millions of Californians living less than a mile from toxic oil and gas drilling. Check it out

As a direct result of this work, California Governor Gavin Newsom has already taken some major steps to move California off fossil fuels, including:

• Ending fracking — an oil and gas extraction technique that endangered our communities, our water, and our future — throughout the state;
• Announcing that the state of California was suing the five biggest oil companies for their decades of lies and damage;
• Signing into law AB 421 to bring clearer voting language and greater transparency at the ballot box;
• Passing a price gouging penalty on oil refineries that attempt to rip off Californians at the pump;
• Signing into law SB 1137, a bill that prevents new drilling and rework permits within 3,200 feet of where people live, work, and play;
• Signing a state budget that included a $40 million fund that could be available for direct payments to fossil fuel workers for wage replacement and healthcare; and
• Announcing a goal to phase out oil production by no later than 2045, with a dramatic decline in new drilling permits issued in the last two years.