The California Senate Committee on Environmental Quality approved a resolution on Wednesday, advocating for the creation of a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. The resolution has now taken its first significant step toward passing the California Assembly.
The resolution, sponsored by Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) and Stand.earth and introduced by Senate Majority Whip, Senator Lena A. Gonzalez, supports a global strategy to establish the framework for managing fossil fuel production, first by halting expansion and then gradually phasing out coal, oil, and gas in a fair and quick manner.
Through the transition to abundant and clean renewable energy, it also seeks to safeguard the local government services and the workers who would be most adversely affected.
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Gonzalez said: “Every gallon of fossil fuels burned matters on a warming planet and California is already facing wildfires, droughts and heat waves with more frequency and severity than ever. We’re already working to ramp down fossil fuel development and divest from fossil fuels, but we need to think bigger. There is currently no mechanism to counteract the raw economic and political power of the industry that is locking us into dirty energy.
“We cannot continue to feed the industry that profits from this system of injustice. This is why I have proposed in Resolution SJR2 that the State of California formally endorses the call for the world to negotiate a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. I hope that in the coming months, California will join this effort, advocating for a truly global response to a global crisis.”
Story was adapted from Enviro News
