Fighting Fossil Fuels in the Courts and on the Ballot

At age 9, Nalleli Cobo, suffering headaches, heart palpitations, nosebleeds, and body spasms, became an activist, driven to fighting to close the local oil well responsible for her ailments. In 2022, at age 20, she won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for her work shutting down toxic wells throughout the Los Angeles region. The same year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law prohibiting such neighborhood wells. Then Big Oil bankrolled a referendum on the matter for the November 2024 ballot, putting the restrictions Cobo fought so hard for on hold.

Also in California, State Attorney General Rob Bonta has filed a lawsuit against five of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, along with the lobbying organization American Petroleum Institute, for willfully misleading the public about climate change. This week we explore two methods of challenging fossil fuels: in the courts and on the ballot.

Guests:

Nalleli Cobo, Cofounder, People Not Pozos

Rob Bonta, California Attorney General

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