Who is powering California?

Amazon oil drilling is expanding thanks to demand from California.

A tanker ship carrying Amazon crude oil threads through the water and anchors in the Los Angeles port. The crude oil from this tanker and many others will be refined by Marathon, Chevron, and Valero – and sold by retailers throughout the state. In fact, on average 1 in 9 gallons pumped in California is derived from the Amazon.

But here’s the price of fueling California with oil from the Amazon: The fossil fuel industry across the Amazon is a gateway to deforestation and is responsible for Indigenous Peoples’ rights violations, pollution, and ongoing spills, and is connected to corruption – and a host of additional biodiversity and climate impacts.

And with Ecuador set to open up over 7.5 million acres of roadless land to double oil production this year – thanks to the growing demand from California – we need to take urgent action to protect this bio-cultural and biodiverse haven.

Governor Gavin Newsom has the power to stop California’s complicity in new drilling in the Amazon. So, we’re asking you to add your name to a petition urging Governor Newsom to be a climate leader and stand up to Big Oil.

Governor Newsom has positioned his administration as a progressive one and has made promises to implement policies to protect the climate. And with the Summit of Americas – where leaders from North and Latin America will convene to discuss economic, ecological, and more issues of the hemisphere – coming up in a few weeks, we need a wave of public pressure on him to address California’s role in the Amazon’s destruction.

As the toxic legacy of the oil industry wreaks havoc on the rainforest, Indigenous communities in Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia are calling for an end to the expansion of the oil industry into their territories. And the Stand.earth community can stand behind these communities and push for policies that end California’s over-reliance on Amazon crude without expanding more drilling in the backyards of California’s fenceline communities.

Before the Summit of America kicks off on June 6th, we need to get the petition to Governor Newsom to show the collective power behind this campaign. Will you add your name to the petition to Newsom and urge the Golden state governor to end California’s complicity in the Amazon destruction by saying no to Amazon crude?

The Stand community was founded to protect forests. And we have successfully gone up against banks, corporations, governments, and lobbyists to stand with communities protecting their homes. We have shifted billions of dollars from fossil fuel projects in the Amazon and secured commitments from six banks to stop financing Amazon oil and gas.

The momentum to protect the Amazon is stronger than ever. Just like how you stood up against fossil fuel projects like Trans Mountain, the Coastal GasLink pipeline, and the Teck tar sands mine, we know you’ll be here to resist the expansion of oil and gas drilling in the Amazon rainforest.