The California Senate has unanimously passed a resolution that would probe the state’s imports of crude oil extracted from the Amazon. The resolution also calls for an eventual end to California’s reliance on these crude imports.

Sen. Josh Becker: “Colleagues, protecting the Amazon is not just good for the communities that live there, but our climate here in California. California is dependent on the Amazon for temperature and rainfall regulation. In other words, our fates are linked. And I’m going to share a shocking stat: 50% — 50% of the oil exported from the Amazon ends up in California refineries.”

This follows years of advocacy from Indigenous groups in South America. In June, a high-level Indigenous delegation from Ecuador’s Amazon met with lawmakers in Sacramento and staged a protest near a Chevron refinery. Meanwhile, Ecuador and Peru are moving ahead to expand drilling in the Amazon.