A century ago, Taft was built on top of California’s most productive oil field. Since then, the local economy hasn’t stopped relying on oil extraction to provide jobs. But with California committed to halting petroleum production by 2045 and suing the world's largest oil companies over climate change deception, producers worry the town will die before the last drop is extracted. "We import almost all the oil we need from a foreign country. So we got to use our oil," says Fred Holmes, chairman of the board at Holmes Western Oil Corporation. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES