How it Started
In 2013, a group of Ventura County residents got wind of a proposed oil drilling operation in their neighborhood. Concerned about health and environmental hazards, they researched the impacts of local drilling operations – only to discover that hard data was not available to the public. Ventura County desperately needed an organized effort to monitor oil and gas drilling, and advocate for policies that protect the environment and public health.
Awarded tax-exempt status in 2014, CFROG first functioned as a watchdog organization, monitoring oil and gas operations and pressing officials to properly review, permit, and monitor drilling operations.
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How it's Going
By 2017, CFROG’s data was clear – there was no such thing as “responsible” oil and gas operations. And so “Citizens for Responsible Oil & Gas” became Climate First: Replacing Oil & Gas. Then Ventura County experienced the Thomas Fire, one of the worst wildfires in California history. The effects of climate change went from solid science to sobering reality.
We knew we needed to do more.
Where we’re Headed
In 2018, we expanded CFROG’s mission to move beyond monitoring oil industry wrongdoing. We now also advocate for positive changes that promote a fossil fuel-free future: clean power, green jobs, and environmental justice. We are part of the movement for a Just Transition on the Central Coast, and work to combat environmental racism and the profound impacts that environmental pollution has on communities of color.
We have grown from an all-volunteer organization to a small but mighty staff.
Looking forward, we continue to grow and fight for an equitable future.
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Land Acknowledgment
We acknowledge that we are on the traditional land of the first people of Ojai and Ventura County, the Chumash People past and present and honor with gratitude the land itself and Chumash indigenous communities.
The land that Climate First: Replacing Oil & Gas (CFROG) works on has been the home to the Chumash indigenous communities for more than 15,000 years. Please join us in honoring these ancestral groups by expressing gratitude for the people who stewarded this land throughout the generations and continue to do so.
For thousands of years, Chumash communities have been caretakers of this environment. The climate crisis is a legacy of colonialism; rooted in the exploitation and degradation of the planet, peoples, and cultures. Many of CFROG’s staff and board members are settlers on this land as a result of this same colonialism. Indigenous leadership, knowledge, and innovation is critical to fighting fossil fuels and the transition to a just and sustainable economy. We celebrate the resilience and strength that all indigenous people have shown and continue to show on the Central Coast and beyond in the face of systemic injustice.