Santa Barbara County has moved towards ending fossil fuel extraction.
County supervisors took a step toward stopping the addition of new oil and gas facilities in the county and phasing out existing facilities.
In a staff report, county officials stated that an ordinance to ban the drilling of new oil and gas wells could be developed and ready for adoption within approximately six months. They added that creating a plan to phase out existing projects would be more complex and could take three years.
More than 50 people testified at a public hearing on the issue.
In the end, supervisors voted 3 to 2 on Tuesday in favor of proceeding with the development of ordinances to ban new development and phase out existing facilities.
