Community Spotlight: Meet Haley Ehlers of Climate First: Replace Oil & Gas 'CFROG'

Haley Ehlers

Executive Director, Climate First: Replace Oil & Gas

Can you please share more about yourself and the mission of Climate First: Replacing Oil & Gas?

CFROG is the only organization on California’s Central Coast solely dedicated to advancing a just transition from polluting, extractive fossil fuels to a clean energy future – one that supports safe jobs, healthy communities, and climate justice for all. For over a decade, we’ve been a powerful grassroots force driving meaningful climate action in our region. Through bold community action, youth leadership development, industry accountability, and support for a growing green workforce, CFROG works to protect public health and build a more equitable, sustainable future.

My name is Haley Ehlers, Executive Director at CFROG for about the last four years. I live in West Ventura and bring experience in cross-cultural community organizing, fundraising, nonprofit administration and public policy to my work here in Ventura County. 

Who has made a strong impact on your life and has helped you to get you where you are today?

My journey into fossil-free future advocacy began during my time as a Peace Corps volunteer in Timor-Leste, a beautiful, resilient, and young nation grappling with the consequences of being dependent on nonrenewable oil and gas resources. In my host community, I saw incredibly creative and entrepreneurial micro-economies led by my partners, Lourdes, Tome, Ines, and others, which stood in stark contrast to the unsustainable, “business-as-usual,” and oily practices of the national government. This opened my eyes to the power of grassroots resilience in the face of powerful industries, pollution, and extractive systems. 

What are some recent highlights at Climate First: Replacing Oil & Gas? And what events, milestones and steps are in the near future?

Just last month, we successfully urged the Oxnard and Port Hueneme City Councils to formally support the Make Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act, a state bill that would require major fossil fuel companies to fund climate change mitigation, adaptation, and response efforts. For the next few months, we’re continuing to build support across Central Coast cities and counties for this important policy. Join us to advocate for holding polluters accountable in your community!

What about Climate First: Replacing Oil & Gas is special to you, what would you like our readers to know?

CFROG represents the courage of ordinary people standing up for community health, a sustainable economy, and climate justice – all while taking on one of the most powerful and entrenched industries in the world. In Ventura County, the fastest-warming county in the lower United States, we are continuing to build a climate action movement led by students, frontline communities, scientists, and everyday community members who know an equitable and healthy future is possible. 

Our significant and hard-fought wins for local public health and decarbonization have rippling effects across the region and state. For example, after securing the first safety buffer zone between toxic oil wells and homes, schools, and hospitals in Ventura County, the state passed a similar law protecting frontline communities across California. Our challenge of the expansion of a gas compressor station located across the street from an elementary school in West Ventura led to a new state rule requiring environmental review for all major gas projects. 

And we know that we need all hands on deck to achieve a fossil fuel-free future, especially the hands that will build and maintain green energy infrastructure. Over the last few years, CFROG has worked diligently to cultivate an unprecedented partnership with local organized labor and the first West Coast implementation of an innovative offshore wind career exploration program. Many environmentalists call for a “just transition” – a framework that aims to ensure that workers’ rights are at the forefront of the renewable energy transfer. But at CFROG, we’ve moved beyond simply a framework and are partnering directly with laborers in our community to train the green workforce. 

Why did you think it was important to become a member of the CNL? What do you value most about your connection with CNL?

At CFROG, we fight for a sustainable future and a liveable climate on the Central Coast; and to stay in this fight for the long haul, we must also ensure our organization is sustainable from within. Being a member of CNL has provided us with critical capacity-building support, hands-on skill development in nonprofit administration, programming, and fundraising, and a strong sense of community among like-minded organizations. 

How can the community support you? Where can they find you on social media?

There are many ways to get involved in local climate action and support CFROG! Join an active advocacy campaign, serve on our air quality Community Advisory Committees in West Ventura or Oxnard, sign up for action alerts, share our Environmental Voices Academy program with young people in your life, and make an investment in our future with a donation today! Keep up with CFROG on Instagram, Facebook, and BlueSky.