Oil and gas drilling in Los Angeles occurs next door to homes, schools, and hospitals, and emits toxic air pollution which can contribute to cancer and respiratory illnesses. In November 2015, Youth for Environmental Justice, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the South Central Youth Leadership Coalition sued the City of Los Angeles and its Department of City Planning for bypassing environmental review and rubber-stamping oil drilling applications. The plaintiffs alleged the City engaged in a pattern and practice that violated California civil rights law by disparately under-protecting communities of color, and systematically violated state environmental review mandates. In September 2016, the plaintiffs settled their claims with the City, but are now being counter-sued by the California Independent Petroleum Association. Join us for a conversation with representatives from the plaintiff organizations about oil and gas regulation in Los Angeles, and social movement lawyering.
March 20th, at 12:15pm
UCLA School of Law, Room 1430
385 Charles E. Young Drive East
Los Angeles, California 90095
This event is sponsored by the UCLA School of Law Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, the Critical Race Studies Program, the David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy, the Environmental Law Society, Communities for a Better Environment, and the Vietnamese American Bar Association of Northern California (“VABANC”) Law Foundation. The VABANC Law Foundation’s mission is to promote justice and access to legal services and resources for those in the community, particularly those from under-resourced or underserved communities. This litigation is supported by the work of UCLA alumna Jaimini Parekh, VABANC Law Foundation Fellow with Communities for a Better Environment.