REQUEST FROM OUR ALLIES AT VISION TO SUPPORT SB467! MAKE A VIDEO TO OPPOSE OIL AND GAS DRILLING IN NEIGHBORHOODS

Dear friend –

Nearly 7.5 million Californians—mostly Black, Indigenous and people of color—live within one mile of an oil or gas well at a great cost to their health. We can no longer sacrifice our health and the health of our children, neighbors, and friends to the oil and gas industry, and now our lawmakers finally have the chance to do something about it.

SB 467 – the dangerous drilling bill – would establish common sense buffer zones between fossil fuel sites and homes, schools, medical facilities, and childcare centers. It also limits the amount of fracking that will happen to protect our climate, so right now it’s ALL HANDS ON DECK to get this legislation passed!

This is where you come in.

Can you make a short video to encourage your community to support a 2,500 foot buffer zone? You can send it to us over DM on Instagram @VoicesCA or upload it directly here. These videos will be posted by VISION on our social media channels at key moments, and we’ll let you know when it’s time to post them on your own account, too!

Check out our video toolkit here with more instructions and an easy script for more information on how to film and upload your video!

Thanks so much for taking action. Throughout COVID, we can’t come together in person, so filming videos is one of the best ways we can show our strength in numbers. We can’t wait to see everyone’s faces!

JOIN US FOR LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY TRAINING SATURDAY 11 21 2020!

We will be hosting a Legislative training session on ZOOM for anyone who is interested to learn about how our State Legislative Process works!

WHAT: Interactive Legislative Training Session

WHEN: Saturday, November 21, 2021 – 12:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

WHERE: Zoom – register here or at bit.ly/3kJUnEn

Our program:
1) Overview of California legislative process – presentation and questions
2) Effective Citizen Lobbying – presentation and questions
3) Breakout sessions – practice getting ready for meeting your legislator!

Please join by computer (not phone) so you can see your fellow participants and slides. We will be doing 2 breakouts in separate Zoom rooms which will include research and a mock meeting with a legislator to advocate for a good climate bill!

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Room opens at 12:00 p.m. for organizers, event starts at 12:30 p.m.

The Legislative Committee empowers citizen lobbyists to promote legislative action on climate change and a just transition that protects impacted workers and communities. Making our voices heard by legislators who usually hear primarily from special interest lobbyists is part of our core belief that the climate crisis can only be confronted by collective action and participation in the democratic process.

Our committee is a coalition of 350.org related groups in the Southern California area including SoCal350, 350 South Bay Los Angeles, Long Beach 350, 350 Riverside and 350 Conejo Valley. We also work closely with allies in the environmental justice community such as CBE, CEJA, VISION and STAND-LA and multiple Indivisible Groups.

If you are interested in joining, please reach out to the Committee coordinator, Sherry Lear at [email protected]. We hold meetings via Zoom every other Thursday at 7:00 p.m. to coordinate our work and communicate in between meetings via Google Groups.

Priority California State Legislation for 2020

AB-1080/SB-54 – Plastics bills

These sister bills would largely phase out single-use plastics in California by requiring that much of the l single use plastic packaging and products sold in the state after 2030 be recyclable, and that the state achieves a 75% reduction of waste from these products. There are some exceptions such as medicine containers.

UPDATE: These bills unfortunately did NOT pass through our Legislature this year. There is a ballot initiative for 2022 which will accomplish much of what was contained in these bills. Unfortunately, less than 15% of single-use plastic is recycled today in California. Reducing non-recycled single use plastic will also reduce California’s carbon footprint.

AB-345 – Oil and Gas Drilling – Health & Safety Setbacks

Another great bill that died in 2020; this one was killed in the Natural Resources committee of the Senate.

We wiill continue to fight for the establishment of statewide setbacks through the CalGEM rule making process.

Please check out the wonderful EcoJustice Radio presentation on AB345. Martha Arguello of Physicians for Social Responsibility Los Angeles discusses with host Jessica Aldridge neighborhood oil drilling, the call for a 2,500 ft. health and safety buffer, and how community mobilization is addressing the climate emergency and ensuring public health and environmental protection. Martha leads the coalition Stand Together Against Neighborhood Drilling in Los Angeles. They work in a statewide coalition dedicated to buffers as well called Voices in Solidarity Against Oil in Neighborhoods. Please sign the VISION Petition here!

With California being one of the largest oil-producing states in the USA, community based solutions and industry accountability is vital to protecting the most vulnerable and building resilience. In Los Angeles, there are 759 active oil wells less than 1,500 feet from homes, schools, churches, and hospitals; these being predominantly in low-income and communities of color who face disproportionate health and safety impacts from their frontline exposure.

In October 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom tasked CalGEM (the state energy agency) to establish rules to protect public health and the environment from the impacts of oil and gas extraction. AB 345 (Murasutchi) would direct CalGEM to use scientific data and health studies to establish health and safety setbacks between drilling and homes, schools, parks, churches, and other sensitive sites and strongly urges the consideration of a 2500-foot setback, which is the minimum distance considered to be safe under scientific studies. The bill would also require CalGEM to make efforts to gather a diverse range of public input, particularly from communities most affected by drilling, as it establishes these rules.

California currently has no setback requirements while Texas, Colorado, and Pennsylvania all require setbacks. It is well established that oil and gas drilling have severe health impacts on local communities, and recent studies have indicated that a history of pollution increases the risk of fatality from COVID-19.