Most people don't realize it, but Los Angeles is an oil town. Across Los Angeles County, 68 oil fields contain roughly 2,500 active and 2,500 idle wells, many located near homes, schools, daycares, parks, hospitals, and other places where people live, work, play, and learn. Communities living alongside urban oil drilling face significant health risks from air pollution and other environmental hazards. Studies show that the closer people live to active oil wells, the greater their risk of asthma and other respiratory illnesses, adverse pregnancy outcomes including preterm birth and high-risk pregnancies, and certain cancers, in addition to broader impacts on air and water quality and our climate.
Sierra Club’s Clean Break team is working to end urban oil extraction and to bring about a just and equitable transition from dirty fossil fuels to clean renewable energy. We stood up to the oil industry and helped stop oil drilling in the Culver City portion of the Inglewood Oil Field. This work created an important precedent that eventually led to AB 3233, which reaffirms the authority of local jurisdictions to protect their citizens by regulating and prohibiting oil drilling. Together with STAND-LA, we are lifting our voices and winning the fight to end oil operations in the City of LA and across LA County.
Join us at our next Clean Break 7pm Thursday, July 23, 2026. RSVP HERE! We also encourage you to join us at Holman United Methodist Church on July 18th for a community town hall about shutting down the Murphy drill site! This is an important mobilization opportunity ahead of the Nuisance Abatement Revocation hearing that has been tentatively scheduled for July 23rd (tentative): RSVP HERE! In the meantime, let the Chief Zoning Administrator that you are calling for the closure of the Murphy drill site – use this link to send your email!