Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
LA is filled with thousands of oil wells, many of them still active and leaking toxic gas. After years of legal battles, the city is starting to plug them, a task that could cost tens of millions of dollars.
#PlanetA #oil #losangeles
Credits:
Author, Video Editor: Amanda Coulson-Drasner
Camera: Nils Hünerfürst
Supervising Editor: Malte Rohwer-Kahlmann, Kiyo Dörrer, Adam Baheej Adada
Fact-check: Alexander Paquet
Thumbnail: Em Chabridon
Background interviews:
Cooper Kass, Center for Biological Diversity
Sommer Yesenofski, STAND-LA
Read More:
Carbon Tracker: There Will Be Blood: Decommissioning California’s Oilfields
carbontracker.org/reports/there-will-be-blood
Center for Biological Diversity: Idle Wells, Active Threat
biologicaldiversity.org/programs/climate_law_institute/pdfs/LA-County-Idle-Well-fact-sheet.pdf
Center for Biological Diversity: More Than 1,000 Operators Violated California’s New Idle Oil Well Cleanup Law
biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/more-than-1000-operators-violated-californias-new-idle-oil-well-cleanup-law-2026-01-07
Impact of upstream oil extraction and environmental public health: A review of the evidence
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969718348381
LA Times: Los Angeles tries again to phase out urban oil production
latimes.com/environment/story/2026-06-23/los-angeles-tries-again-to-phase-out-urban-oil-production
LA County sues to plug wells in the Inglewood Oil Field
file.lacounty.gov/SDSInter/lac/1197540_SentinelOilWellComplaintFinal.pdf?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term=
**The following links are not accessible outside the United States**
CalGEM Orphan Well Prioritization
maps.conservation.ca.gov/calgem/orphanwells
CalGEM Well Finder
maps.conservation.ca.gov/calgem/findwells
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:05 History
03:44 Oil wells around LA
05:42 Problems
09:18 Legal
10:53 Orphaned wells
14:55 Is cleanup enough?
16:46 Conclusion
We're destroying our environment at an alarming rate. But it doesn't need to be this way. Planet A explores the shift towards an eco-friendly world — and challenges our ideas about what dealing with climate change means. We look at the big and the small: What we can do and how the system needs to change. We'll take a truly global look at how to get us out of this mess.
Follow Planet A on TikTok: tiktok.com/@dw_planet
LA is filled with thousands of oil wells, many of them still active and leaking toxic gas. After years of legal battles, the city is starting to plug them, a task that could cost tens of millions of dollars.
#PlanetA #oil #losangeles
Credits:
Author, Video Editor: Amanda Coulson-Drasner
Camera: Nils Hünerfürst
Supervising Editor: Malte Rohwer-Kahlmann, Kiyo Dörrer, Adam Baheej Adada
Fact-check: Alexander Paquet
Thumbnail: Em Chabridon
Background interviews:
Cooper Kass, Center for Biological Diversity
Sommer Yesenofski, STAND-LA
Read More:
Carbon Tracker: There Will Be Blood: Decommissioning California’s Oilfields
carbontracker.org/reports/there-will-be-blood
Center for Biological Diversity: Idle Wells, Active Threat
biologicaldiversity.org/programs/climate_law_institute/pdfs/LA-County-Idle-Well-fact-sheet.pdf
Center for Biological Diversity: More Than 1,000 Operators Violated California’s New Idle Oil Well Cleanup Law
biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/more-than-1000-operators-violated-californias-new-idle-oil-well-cleanup-law-2026-01-07
Impact of upstream oil extraction and environmental public health: A review of the evidence
sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969718348381
LA Times: Los Angeles tries again to phase out urban oil production
latimes.com/environment/story/2026-06-23/los-angeles-tries-again-to-phase-out-urban-oil-production
LA County sues to plug wells in the Inglewood Oil Field
file.lacounty.gov/SDSInter/lac/1197540_SentinelOilWellComplaintFinal.pdf?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term=
**The following links are not accessible outside the United States**
CalGEM Orphan Well Prioritization
maps.conservation.ca.gov/calgem/orphanwells
CalGEM Well Finder
maps.conservation.ca.gov/calgem/findwells
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:05 History
03:44 Oil wells around LA
05:42 Problems
09:18 Legal
10:53 Orphaned wells
14:55 Is cleanup enough?
16:46 Conclusion
We're destroying our environment at an alarming rate. But it doesn't need to be this way. Planet A explores the shift towards an eco-friendly world — and challenges our ideas about what dealing with climate change means. We look at the big and the small: What we can do and how the system needs to change. We'll take a truly global look at how to get us out of this mess.
Follow Planet A on TikTok: tiktok.com/@dw_planet
