California's Double-Edged "Climate Leadership": Behind Big Talk, A Cozy Relationship With Big Oil

In the US, California is seen as a leader on climate change. With a strongly liberal population that seems committed to all things green, it's no surprise that its leaders stepped up on the international stage after Donald Trump pulled the US from the Paris Agreement. Governor Jerry Brown, LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, and a number of other mayors and state legislators all made statements, signed letters, and supported climate change issues in myriad ways. But there is more to California than elected officials talking a big talk on the international and national stage. At local levels, California is telling a different story. 

A state-wide environmental justice organization, Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) has butted heads with these politicians on a large refinery project that would combine two facilities and increase the use of North Dakotan Bakken crude and Canadian tar sands, two kinds of oil that are notoriously dirtier. Refineries like this one are almost exclusively located near communities of color. "This is so representative of the two faces of California, where we have Jerry Brown and representatives from state government independently going to these climate talks in Paris, and representing California as independent from the country. At the same time, all over the state these refineries are being retooled to bring in dirtier crude, and we’re fighting coal exports from California, even though California doesn’t produce coal … But in terms of disproportionate impact on communities of color, that’s nothing new. It’s the same old same old," says Suma Peesapati, CBE president. 

The governor has "talked a very good game on climate", but has not committed to its execution at home. And big oil has continued to pour money into the political system in California. California and other states have talked the talk on climate change and environmental justice, but can they walk the walk?