"One bill that would have required oil companies to help pay for damages from climate-driven disasters failed and another that would levy heavy fines on refineries that release toxic air contaminants was watered down."
"An explosion at a refinery with a history of violations unleashed towering flames and massive plumes of black smoke over Martinez and other cities northeast of San Francisco Saturday afternoon, triggering a local health advisory and a shelter-in-place order.
The Martinez Refining Company quickly received two notices of violations for public nuisance, excessive smoke and soot fallout from the Bay Area Air District. Last year the refinery agreed to pay more than $4.4 million to settle allegations that it discharged millions of gallons of wastewater into marshes in violation of the federal Clean Water Act. But the refinery could have been facing steep penalties after last weekend’s explosion had a bill opposed by its owner passed during California’s last legislative session.
The Martinez facility is owned by PBF Energy, which operates refineries from California to Delaware, and bills itself as one of the largest independent U.S. petroleum refiners and suppliers of transportation fuels, heating oil and other petrochemical products. PBF Energy spent more than $330,000 on lobbying and donated more than $132,000 to state legislators and political campaigns during the last legislative session, 2023 through 2024, a review of state records shows.
Over the same period, the oil and gas industry spent a record-breaking $65.8 million lobbying California agencies and legislators, according to an analysis by Last Chance Alliance, a coalition of public interest groups. Several bills the industry opposed passed, but one, the Polluters Pay Climate Cost Recovery Act, did not."
Liza Gross reports for Inside Climate News February 6, 2025.
Advertisement 
