BAKERSFIELD, CA (April 29, 2025)—As part of the ongoing “Dirty Dems” campaign, Greenpeace USA, in collaboration with the California Working Families Party and Courage California, continues to hold California State legislators accountable for their damaging connections to the oil and gas industry and their failure to support critical climate, economic justice, and progressive priorities.
This week, the spotlight falls on Bakersfield – and two legislators who have continuously received failing grades from every major environmental and progressive scorecard across the state. Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains, who has accepted $54,000 from the oil and gas industry in just the last session alone, and Senator Melissa Hurtado, who has accepted $79,500 herself since 2018, have made a name for themselves through supporting corporate polluters instead of fighting for their communities.
Amy Moas, Ph.D., Greenpeace USA Senior Climate Campaigner, said: “Assemblymember Bains’s and Senator Hurtado’s behavior accepting dirty money, and then voting against policies that would have made their communities healthier and more resilient, is inexcusable. Bakersfield and its surrounding communities deserve elected leaders who are fighting for everyday, working families – not delaying protections that would keep people safe.”
Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains – “Big Oil Bains”
Though Assemblymember Bains has only been in office for two full legislative sessions – and though she represents communities bearing the brunt of the toxic oil industry – she has repeatedly chosen not to protect the very people she was elected to represent. Assembly Member Bains was the only Democrat to choose corporate profits over protecting her constituents when she voted against a bill aimed at ensuring oil companies are not ripping off Californians in order to rake in historic profits (SBX1-2). During the same session, she also did the oil industry’s bidding by introducing a bill requiring an increase in toxic oil production in the state.
Some additional low points of Assembly Member Bains’ time in office include voting no on programs to lower air pollution and smog (AB 126) and skipping voting on a bill to monitor noxious pollutants in neighborhoods that have been linked to asthma and cancer (SB 674). She also skipped a vote to mandate California speed up the plugging of the thousands of leaking idle wells throughout the state (AB 1866), as well as on a bill to incentivize the clean up of the low producing oil wells polluting the largest urban oil field in the country (AB 2716). Assembly Member Bains does not just vote down and skip votes on public health and environmental issues, however; she also skipped voting on a bill to improve the working conditions for janitorial labor in California (AB 2364).
Senator Melissa Hurtado
Senator Hurtado’s contributions from Chevron, the California Independent Petroleum Association (CIPA), and one of California’s largest oil refiners, PBF Energy, show in her voting record. While it is common in the California Legislature for legislators to skip votes in order to avoid taking a stand on difficult bills, Senator Hurtado has one of the most up front and brazen records with her actual voting down numerous environmental justice and public health bills for the purpose of protecting the profits of her corporate donors.
Senator Hurtado’s time in office includes a series of low points. First, she voted no on one of the largest environmental justice priorities for more than a decade aimed at reducing pollution from oil drilling in neighborhoods (SB 1137), and voted no on multiple bills aimed at cleaning up toxic idle oil wells and ensuring taxpayers are not stuck with the bill (AB 1866 and AB 1167) – despite her district having more than 11,000 idle wells. Additionally, she voted against a bill to incentivize the cleanup of low producing wells in the largest urban oil field (AB 2716), and another to strengthen the enforcement measures for oil and gas regulations (AB 631).
Senator Hurtado has also pushed back against workers’ rights. She skipped voting on a number of other progressive priorities including a major labor priority bill in 2022 aimed at establishing a council to shape minimum wage and working conditions for fast food workers (AB 257), as well as a bill to end employment discrimination by outlawing forced arbitration agreements (AB 51).
Holding the Bakersfield Legislators Accountable
Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains and Senator Melissa Hurtado are the eighth and ninth Dirty Dems to be named. They join a growing list of California’s elected officials who have repeatedly chosen to prioritize corporate donations over the well-being of their constituents.
Greenpeace USA is part of a global network of independent campaigning organizations that use peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future. Greenpeace USA is committed to transforming the country’s unjust social, environmental, and economic systems from the ground up to address the climate crisis, advance racial justice, and build an economy that puts people first. Learn more at www.greenpeace.org/usa.
