Every five years, this city of 7,000 hosts a rollicking, Old West-themed festival known as Oildorado. High schoolers decorate parade floats with derricks and pump jacks. Young women vie for the crown in a \u201cMaids of Petroleum\u201d beauty pageant. It\u2019s a celebration of an industry that has sustained the local economy for the past century.<\/p>\n
This is oil country, in a state that leads the country in environmental regulation. With wildfires and drought ravaging California, Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, wants to end oil drilling<\/a> in the state by 2045. That has provoked angst and fierce resistance here in Kern County, where oil and gas tax revenues help to pay for everything from elementary schools to firefighters to mosquito control.<\/p>\n \u201cNowhere else in California is tied to oil and gas the way we are, and we can\u2019t replace what that brings overnight,\u201d said Ryan Alsop, chief administrative officer in Kern County, a region north of Los Angeles. \u201cIt\u2019s not just tens of thousands of jobs. It\u2019s also hundreds of millions of dollars in annual tax revenue that we rely on to fund our schools, parks, libraries, public safety, public health.\u201d<\/p>\n Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n With wildfires and drought ravaging California, Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to end oil drilling in the state by 2045. But dozens of U.S. states rely on fossil fuels to fund aspects of daily life. <\/p>\n Replacing that money is turning out to be a major challenge. https:\/\/t.co\/ZwbyIYpC42<\/a><\/p>\n — The New York Times (@nytimes) July 7, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n