Sierra Club's Beyond Dirty Fuels Campaign is hard at work fighting back against pollution from oil and gas corporations. Our team has mobilized thousands of comments and public engagement across the state, pushing decision-makers to protect people's health and future over corporate profits this year.
As the oil and gas industry finds itself increasingly beaten out by climate solutions, like clean energy, clean transportation, energy efficiency, and electrification, we still have much work to do. To keep their dirty business models going, the industry has made efforts to keep California hooked on oil and gas – from greenwashing hydrogen and carbon capture to trying to expand oil drilling instead of building out clean energy solutions. But they are no match for our volunteers and staff, who have stepped up to fight back in 2025.
Local Wins
Fact-Checking the CCS "Solution": Industry "Solution" that requires hefty governmental subsidies to be viable, putting taxpayers at risk
This Spring, we organized a webinar on the emerging issue of Carbon Capture and Sequestration projects being planned for aged oil fields throughout the San Joaquin Valley, bringing together experts on the matter to shed some light on the nuances of CCS technologies and how they can impact communities, while allowing oil and gas projects to extend their life cycles.
Capturing the Truth on Film:
In November, the Sierra Club and Physicians for Social Responsibility hosted a film screening in Bakersfield of a new short film, The Sacrifice Zone. The film follows a family struggling against the oil and gas industry and its plans to test carbon capture and storage in their community. Our film screening was followed by a panel of activists and community members featured in the film to share their perspectives and answer questions on the impacts of these projects in Kern County.
Resisting a Rusty Pipeline Restart
In 2025, ten years after the devastating Refugio Beach oil spill, Texas-based Sable Offshore announced it intended to restart production off the coast of Santa Barbara using the same corroded pipeline!
Sierra Club, Surfrider, Environmental Defense Council, and Last Chance Alliance mobilized and called on the California Coastal Commission and the State Lands Commission to require an environmental review of the pipeline and to hold Sable accountable for defying state cease-and-desist orders. The Santa Barbara Ventura Chapter led local activists in turning out to Coastal and State Lands Commission meetings, as well as participating in a surf paddle-out event to mark the 10-year anniversary of the spill. Our campaign team collected over 1,298 petition signatures and drove over 250 phone calls to the Governor's office on the issue, and helped tell the story of why this pipeline should not be restarted. In response to the robust community engagement calling for accountability of this company, the state of California levied unprecedented fines of $18 million against the company for their illegal construction operations without a permit, and is set to make a final permitting decision Dec 16th.
Weaponizing Annoyance for Environmental Justice
Communities across the state live near oil and gas wells, old and new. These wells leak a potent greenhouse gas, methane, and cancer-causing volatile organic compounds into the air, contributing to negative climate and public health impacts across the state. These wells are right next to where people live, work, and play- and the way to report these sites that are leaking is confusing and unclear due a complex network of state agency roles and responsibilities. Our team wanted to help communities understand how these wells can impact their health, but also have all the information they need to report sites they suspect are leaking.
Sierra Club teamed up with FracTracker, Last Chance Alliance, CFROG, CCEJN to host a webinar, How to Be Annoying: Finding and Reporting Leaks in Your Community, teaching folks how to detect and report methane leaks, bringing together community leaders from around Kern County: Buttonwillow, Lost Hills, Delano, Shafter, Lamont, and Arvin.
Statewide Efforts
Calling Out Gov. Newsom's Oil and Gas Giveaway
Despite framing himself as a leader that can stand up to President Trump, Governor Gavin Newsom bent to the will of Big Oil this year, the same industry that spent half a billion dollars to bring Trump into power, at the expense of the public health and future of Californians. Despite many good bills at the 2025 California Assembly, Gov. Newsom helped force through a last-minute bill, SB257 in partnership with the oil industry allowing for 2,000 new wells to be drilled annually in Kern County, where people of color are disproportionately breathing polluted air. These folks didn't get to weigh in on the bill, which was written behind closed doors.
In response, we show up in New York City for Climate Week to hold fossil fuel executives and their backers accountable. The Sierra Club joined coalition partners at the Make Billionaires Pay march, an event that was more than 30 thousand people strong calling for corporate accountability in light of the blatant oligarchy this country is witnessing.
The Beyond Dirty Fuels team also joined the Sierra Club’s California chapters and California coalition partners in a banner drop outside of the America’s All In meeting to send a strong message to Governor Gavin Newsom, who has, in the last days of the 2025 California legislative session, made this major shift in fossil fuel policy. Sierra Club California's Gabriel Facio also wrote an op-ed for the Sacramento Bee calling out Newsom for his dangerous politicking. Our staff and volunteers have worked together this year to hold the line in California and send a clear message to the governor: you cannot take on Trump if you can’t take on Big Oil.
People Power > Urgency
The Beyond Dirty Fuels team collaborated with the Our Wild California team to start off strong on the Kern County and Central Coast Resource Management Plans (RMP), both of which hold contingencies for fossil fuel work. In the very last hours of the scoping period, you all (our fabulous supporters) churned out 1,200 comments to send to the Bureau of Land Management.
This is what can happen when communities join forces together to fight against big obstacles and even bigger adversaries. And there are many more left unaddressed. We have an uphill battle not just to preserve our hard-fought victories but to push California forward to do better in 2026.
If you’d like to get involved in any of these efforts, sign up for our action team!