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Sacramento, CA – In a major step toward climate justice and Indigenous rights, the California State Senate has just passed Senate Resolution 51 (SR 51) by a vote of 38-0, calling for a full investigation into the state’s ties to crude oil extracted from the Amazon rainforest and urging an end to these imports. The resolution, introduced by Senator Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park), follows years of advocacy and was spurred by a recent visit by a high-level Indigenous delegation from Ecuador’s Amazon.
The passage of SR 51 reinforces the findings of Amazon Watch’s 2025 report, Drilling Toward Disaster, which exposed California’s role as a top global consumer of oil from the Amazon. Onshore oil extraction in the Amazon is driving deforestation, biodiversity loss, rights violations, and climate change. Despite the state’s climate leadership reputation, crude from Ecuador is regularly processed in California refineries much of which is then pumped into its transportation system – fueling both rainforest destruction and rights violations.
The vote on SR 51 comes on the heels of new plans in Ecuador and Peru to greatly expand Amazon oil drilling – and a new source of future crude flowing to California. Ecuador announced its plan to offer new oil and gas bidding rounds, including the Ronda Sur Oriente, which would put seven oil concessions of remote roadless rainforest and Indigenous territories up for auction without their consultation or consent. Ecuador and Peru state oil companies also announced a cooperation agreement to construct a bi-national pipeline that would transport crude from future fields in the to-be-tendered oil blocks in southern Ecuador to Peru – connecting them to one of the region’s most spill-prone oil pipelines. This MOU was immediately condemned by a new cross-border alliance of Indigenous nations. Their message was clear: there is no social license for this project, and the Global North must stop fueling Amazon destruction.
“This is the first step in ending California’s addiction to Amazon crude. Consuming oil from the Amazon is incompatible with climate leadership. As the world’s fourth largest economy, California is sending a powerful market signal by examining its crude footprint and role in Amazon destruction. Today, the California legislature stands with Amazonian Indigenous leaders to explore solutions that better protect the Amazon and strive to keep fossil fuels in the ground,” said Kevin Koenig, Climate, Energy, and Extractive Industry Director at Amazon Watch.
Last June, Indigenous leaders from the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon (CONFENIAE) traveled to California to meet with lawmakers, share their firsthand experiences of oil-related harm, and urge the state to take action. Their visit helped catalyze momentum behind SR 51, making it clear that real climate leadership means cutting ties with Amazon crude and a just energy transition from fossil fuels everywhere.
In California, fossil fuel infrastructure disproportionately harms communities of color, causing asthma, cancer, and premature death. Studies suggest that California can get off of Amazon crude and respect the laws that limit toxic exposure for communities that live adjacent to refineries and points of extraction, and it can do this without affecting consumers – if refineries actually produced the gasoline that California consumes in state instead of exporting it for profit to its neighbors like Arizona and Nevada.
“[California] must continue ways we can ramp down demand as we continue our clean transportation leadership as well as managed decline of extraction in a way that prioritizes the needs of our most vulnerable communities both here in California and abroad. [Ecuador’s] government announced seven new oil blocks on Indigenous land. And as we speak, the leaders of the seven Indigenous nations are meeting right now to decide their strategy. I know they’re grateful this resolution is a small but important step towards addressing the concerns of communities in the Amazon and aligns our work to transition off of fossil fuels here in California,” said Senator Becker before the vote in the California Senate.
The resolution’s passage sends a strong signal to international markets and oil investors. As Ecuador’s government pushes forward with a new Southern Oil Round – auctioning off oil blocks in some of the most biodiverse areas of the Amazon – California’s legislative action raises further doubts about the long-term viability of such projects.
“I believe this Senate resolution is a call for coherence. As Indigenous peoples, we are already protecting the forests, life, and culture, and resisting extractive activities by presenting new alternatives like the Living Forest proposal. It’s time for others to assume their social responsibility and take meaningful action,” said Diana Chávez, International Relationships leader at Pakkiru.
Amazon Watch and allies across the Americas hail SR 51 as a model for aligning climate policy with Indigenous rights and biodiversity protection. The resolution affirms California’s commitment to investigating the origin of the oil it consumes and taking a new path that does not come at the expense of Indigenous Peoples and the rainforest, such as exploring gasoline export reduction strategies and accelerating in-state demand reduction already well underway by doubling down on vehicle efficiency, electrification, and transit.
This vote is not the end – it’s a beginning. With SR 51 on the books, pressure will now mount on California’s executive agencies and Governor Gavin Newsom to take concrete steps to phase out Amazon crude and honor the call of Indigenous Earth Defenders.
