Community-Led Campaign That Forced Big Oil to Remove a Dangerous California Ballot Measure Will Continue to Hold Polluters Accountable
Campaign for a Safe and Healthy California Evolves to Become General Purpose Committee with Nearly $20 Million to Protect Communities
SACRAMENTO – Today the community-led coalition and campaign that beat the oil industry at its own game and forced them to pull a dangerous measure off the November ballot has filed paperwork to become a general purpose committee in order to continue their work of holding Big Oil accountable and protecting people from toxic oil pollution. The move will enable the campaign to pivot and continue to protect communities from toxic oil pollution whether in the legislature, the courts, or on the ballot.
"Children, youth, and working families in frontline communities like Wilmington are still not breathing clean air. Community members have been fighting to get rid of their dirty neighbor, toxic oil drilling, for years and they knew that this attempt to fool them at the ballot fight would not be over immediately. They are incredibly powerful and are determined to hold Big Oil accountable so that their children can grow up in a neighborhood free of oil drilling,” said Darryl Molina Sarmiento, CSHC Steering Committee Member and Executive Director of Communities for a Better Environment (CBE). “We know that these corporate polluters will continue to try and undermine community-rooted solutions that protect people’s health and safety, but we’re not going to let them unravel the progress we have made for their profits. People across California are still living with the health impacts of Big Oil’s greed and dangerous practices – and there’s so much more work to be done to achieve justice and an equitable phase out of fossil fuels that we are seeking.”
The Campaign for a Safe and Healthy California organized, fought back and won against Big Oil’s efforts to unravel a health and safety buffer zone law (SB 1137 - Lena Gonzalez) that prohibits new oil drilling within 3,200 feet of where nearly 3 million Californians live, while also requiring existing wells to meet higher safety standards.
“We created a new playbook that centered the spotlight on communities of color living with Big Oil in our backyards to force an unconditional Big Oil surrender, and we won’t stop now,” said Mabel Tsang, CSHC Steering Committee Member and Political Director for the California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA). “Our brave neighborhood leaders are going to continue to talk about asthma, cancer and other health conditions we have been forced to live with because of toxic drilling. We’re going to honor all our community members Big Oil has taken from us and we are going to make sure that polluters pay for what they’ve done to our communities.”
“We cannot let the oil industry, with their billions in shameful profits, continue to pollute our communities and damage our health with impunity. We will continue to build a strong alliance of brave environmental justice leaders, doctors, and nurses who stand up to the oil industry. We built a powerful coalition of more than 420 organizations, public health experts, political leaders, philanthropists, artists, and labor unions, united to expose Big Oil’s greed and manipulation,” said Martha Dina Argüello, CSHC Steering Committee Member and Executive Director of Physicians for Social Responsibility Los Angeles (PSR-LA).
The coalition is also calling for strong oversight to enforce the 3,200 foot buffer zone. CalGEM, the state agency in charge of oversight, issued 30 permits for new drilling in a neighborhood in Long Beach just as the referendum was withdrawn and the law went back into effect. CalGEM has since rescinded some of the unlawful permits, and advocates continue to press CalGEM to rescind the rest.
“Immediately after pulling their measure, the oil industry is still trying to put new toxic wells in our communities,” added Tsang. “We will not let Big Oil undermine the progress we have made and we will never back down from the fight. We are stronger and more vigilant and united than ever.”
Press Contact:Robin Swanson, robin@swansoncomm.net