SACRAMENTO, Calif. — (AP) — A California law that bans drilling new oil wells near places like homes and schools will take effect soon after the oil industry said it would withdraw a referendum from the November ballot asking voters to block it.
The law, first passed in 2022, never took effect because the California Independent Petroleum Association gathered enough signatures for the referendum.
The association announced Wednesday it would withdraw the referendum. Instead it plans to file a lawsuit asking a judge to block the law.
The announcement shakes up what has become a crowded November ballot. Both sides had been gearing up for what would have been an expensive campaign.
California was the nation’s leading oil producing state over a century ago, but it has since been surpassed by Texas, New Mexico, North Dakota, Colorado, Alaska and Oklahoma.
The oil industry has still remained a powerful force in state politics, known for having …