On March 8, Kern County, which houses California’s prime oil patch, approved an ordinance that would fast-track drilling of thousands of new oil and gas wells in the county over the next 15 years. The ordinance creates a blanket environmental impact report to approve as many as 2,700 new wells a year and eliminate future environmental reviews and public participation. Environmental and local community groups are challenging the decision in court.
Terra Verde co-host and Earth Island Journal editor Maureen Nandini Mitra, talks with Riddhi Patel, communications coordinator with the Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment, and Hollin Kretzmann, senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Center’s Climate Law Institute about the ongoing struggle against fossil fuel extraction in Kern County.