Oil wells
Credit: BLM
September 14, 2025 - SACRAMENTO, Calif.— The California legislature on Saturday passed a bill that greenlights tens of thousands of new oil and gas drilling permits in Kern County over the next decade with no further environmental review. Senate Bill 237 passed as a last minute “gut and amend” measure at the end of the legislative session, truncating public participation. It was one of several bills that roll back environmental and health protections this session.
“It’s senseless and horrifying that California just gave its seal of approval to this reckless ‘drill, baby, drill’ bill,” said Hollin Kretzmann, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “This vote is a deep betrayal of Californians’ trust and values. Lawmakers went behind closed doors and gutted our environmental and health protections to benefit Big Oil. The sad truth is that more drilling will increase pollution and climate-fueled heatwaves, wildfires and floods but it won’t do a thing about gas prices.”
S.B. 237 exempts oil drilling in Kern County from CEQA for the next 10 years, including allowing the rubberstamping of up to 20,000 new wells. In addition, it sets the stage for loosening gasoline pollution requirements at the behest of refineries, which would worsen air pollution across the state.
“These giveaways to Big Oil will worsen pollution for Californians, especially those in Kern County, and make future disasters more frequent and severe,” said Kretzmann. “It’s profoundly misguided to think that giving oil drillers free rein will bring down gas prices. This bill will hit Californians in their wallets with the increased healthcare costs and climate damages that are the price for added drilling.”
More oil drilling permits will lead to more pollution and more harm to the air Californians breathe and the water they drink. Moreover, as multiple experts note, gas prices are mostly a result of global oil prices and the concentrated market power of a few major refining companies.
“It’s telling that the legislature and the governor’s office crafted these bills through backroom deals,” said Kretzmann. “When the public is left out, industry insiders come away with disastrous giveaways. Lawmakers can’t repeat this ugly and unfair process next session. We need our lawmakers to work to transition the state away from the fossil fuel industry once and for all. Otherwise, these oil industry bullying tactics are going to lock Californians into a devastating cycle of exploitation and harm.”
The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.8 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
Source: Center for Biological Diversity
