My name is Emma Dougherty and I am a high school student from California. I urge the Camarillo City Council to vote in support of passing the Climate First: Replacing Oil and Gas Resolution to phase out fossil fuels, defend safety setbacks, hold polluters accountable, and demonstrate the city’s commitment to uplifting youth voices.
An oil and gas phase-out would improve public health and safety by improving air quality in Ventura County. Oil and gas operations can also contaminate groundwater, which impacts the aquifers Ventura County depends on, and is a public health concern.
The economic impact of an oil phaseout would be limited, with minimal job losses and fiscal effects. Industry job losses could be offset by employment in asset decommissioning and in growing clean energy sectors. The oil industry in Ventura County currently employs a relatively small number of workers. The fatality rate for jobs in the oil and gas extraction industry is 7 times higher than other occupations, according to the CDC.
I urge the Camarillo City Council to support a California Polluters Pay Climate Superfund to hold polluters accountable for the destruction they have caused. When climate disasters strike California, like wildfires, residents, local governments, and state budgets are having an increasingly difficult time in their ability to effectively respond to the costs. It is time for the largest polluters to pay up for the harm they have caused and continued to cause.
- Emma Dougherty