Letter writing Sunday July 19
This Sunday at 7pm we will first send some letters or petitions to climate causes, then write letters to get out the vote. See below for letter-writing organizations you can work with.
Here is the URL for the Zoom meeting and a phone number if you prefer to call in.
Message to US Senate to support the Heroes Act
350.org Petition to pass AB345 environmental justice bill (public health over pollution)
This bill requires at-risk communities to have input into the rule-making for oil and gas operations near communities, which will include mandated setbacks to protect the communities from known health & safety hazards. This is a priority Environmental Justice bill. It passed out of the Assembly on January 31 and is now before the California Senate.
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/vote-yes-on-ab-345?source=direct_link&
Please also write an email to Mike McGuire urging him to support AB 345.
[SEE BELOW FOR INFORMATION YOU CAN INCLUDE ON HOW THIS OIL AND GAS POLLUTION NEGATIVELY AFFECTS COVID AND OTHER HEALTH CONDITIONS]
Petition to the DNC Platform Committee for a strong climate plank.
Or use the Sierra Club form: https://act.sierraclub.org/actions/National?actionId=AR0275219&id=7013q000001avVKAAY
Five of the six biggest banks have already ruled out funding for arctic drilling. Only Bank of America remains. Please send a letter via Sierra Club to BofA to pressure them to withhold funding for arctic drilling. sc.org/arcticbofa
Stop the Money Pipeline is petitioning the Federal Reserve to stop bailing out the fossil fuel industry. https://stopthemoneypipeline.com/fed-petition/
LETTERS
Sign up and get your letters ahead of time: Anyone can sign up to write letters at Vote Forward(https://votefwd.org) and/or Sierra Club (https://www.sierraclubindependentaction.org/writing-climate-voters-letters). Vote Forward gives them in packets of 20, Sierra Club in packets of 10. Vote Forward also has a postcard option (less expensive).
Two new organizations we just heard about both support postcards. The Reclaim Our VoteCampaign (https://actionnetwork.org/forms/reclaim-our-vote-signup) contacts likely Democratic voters of color in voter-suppression states like AL, AZ, GA, MS, NC, & TX. And Postcards To Voters (https://postcardstovoters.org) sends postcards to targeted Democratic voters. If you are artistic this is the group for you!
Cheaper Option
There is a project locally working on Reclaim our Vote that makes getting materials cheaper and easier by buying in bulk and packaging into lots of 30 for $11 including postage. The printed labels are also provided. Just makes it easier and less expensive for people. So if anyone’s interested, Frederica Aalto and I will take their orders. From Rebecca Stauffer at [email protected]
Ab 345 Studies
Harvard Covid study
Exposure to air pollution and COVID-19 mortality in the United States. Xiao Wu, Rachel C. Nethery, Benjamin M. Sabath, Danielle Braun, Francesca Dominici. medRxiv 2020.04.05.20054502; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.05.20054502
Conclusions: A small increase in long-term exposure to PM2.5 leads to a large increase in the COVID-19 death rate. Despite inherent limitations of the ecological study design, our results underscore the importance of continuing to enforce existing air pollution regulations to protect human health both during and after the COVID-19 crisis.
Pre-term birth study
APA Gonzalez, David J. X.a; Sherris, Allison R.a; Yang, Weib; Stevenson, David K.b; Padula, Amy M.c; Baiocchi, Michaeld; Burke, Marshalle; Cullen, Mark R.f; Shaw, Gary M.b Oil and gas production and spontaneous preterm birth in the San Joaquin Valley, CA, Environmental Epidemiology: August 2020 – Volume 4 – Issue 4 – p e099 doi: 10.1097/EE9.0000000000000099
An estimated 17.6 million US residents live in close proximity to oil and gas wells, including 2.1 million Californians. We examined whether exposure to well sites was associated with preterm birth risk. We conducted a case–control study in the San Joaquin Valley, CA, an area with the most intensive oil and gas production activity in California, predominantly with conventional methods. We observed an association between preterm birth and exposure to oil and gas well sites. In a secondary analysis, we found evidence of higher concentrations of ambient air pollutants at air monitoring sites in proximity to drilling sites compared with unexposed monitors.
Tran, Casey, Cushing https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP5842
Proximity to higher production OGD in California was associated with adverse birth outcomes among mothers residing in rural areas. Future studies are needed to confirm our findings in other populations and improve exposure assessment measures