CADEM Party Endorses the Campaign for a Safe and Healthy California to KEEP THE LAW Protecting Neighborhoods from Toxic Drilling
Community Advocates Made Compelling Case for Protecting Communities While Big Oil No-Showed at CADEM Weekend
SAN DIEGO, CA – Today the Campaign for a Safe and Healthy California announced a major endorsement from the California Democratic Party (CADEM) after this weekend’s Executive Board meeting determined the Party’s positions on November's ballot measures. Environmental Justice and community advocates made their case about Big Oil’s devastating health impacts on California communities to caucuses and meetings throughout the weekend while Big Oil didn’t bother to show up to defend their $60 million (and counting) efforts attempting to overturn the health and safety law.
CADEM joins a growing list of supporters for the campaign, reinforcing the unified effort to KEEP an historic law (SB 1137) preventing toxic oil drilling in neighborhoods.
“We’re so happy to work with CADEM against Big Oil in order to protect our communities against toxic drilling,” said Maggie Tsai, State Political Director of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN) Action. “We made our voices heard loud and clear about Big Oil’s impact on our communities, and CADEM delegates embraced our fight. Yet despite spending $60 millions on ads and efforts to mislead voters, Big Oil couldn’t be bothered to show up to defend the indefensible this weekend.”
Big Oil has been working to repeal a law (SB 1137) that would make existing oil and gas wells safer by meeting tighter health and environmental requirements within 3,200 feet of neighborhoods, schools, daycare centers and healthcare facilities, and keeping new wells from being built in these areas. To try and overturn this public safety law, oil companies have placed a deceptive measure on the November 2024 ballot.
Nearly 30,000 oil and gas wells in California sit within 3,200 feet of homes, schools, hospitals and other public areas, exposing nearly 3 million people, disproportionately communities of color, to emissions that can cause birth defects, respiratory illnesses and cancer. An independent scientific advisory panel in 2021 advised California officials that a 3,200-foot setback between oil wells and sensitive receptors is the minimum distance to protect public health.
“KEEP THE LAW” Campaign endorsers include public health groups, community and faith organizations, and environmental justice leaders from across California, working to hold oil companies accountable for creating a public health crisis, especially for communities of color.
For more information about our campaign, please visit our website at: www.CAvsBigOil.com
Press Contact:Robin Swanson, robin@swansoncomm.net