Los Angeles City Council approves phaseout of oil drilling

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved a measure to ban new oil and gas wells and phase out existing ones.

The council directed the city attorney to draft an ordinance to prohibit oil and gas drilling in Los Angeles, change zoning laws to make drilling illegal and study how to legally phase out existing wells. The council also created a jobs program to transition oil and gas workers to other industries.

The decision comes after a decade of complaints from residents about health problems — nosebleeds, wheezing, coughing — they blamed on air pollution from the sites.

Activists say that Black and Latino residents of the city are the most affected by pollution from the sites.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/science-business-california-los-angeles-environment-5ff6d3e9813cc27d23af807cb62a3aa7