Along with our partners in the Last Chance Alliance coalition, we have three simple demands for California Governor Gavin Newsom: stop approving new fossil fuel projects, cease current oil extraction, and roll out a health and safety buffer zone between fossil fuel projects and where people live work and play.
Newsom instructed the California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) to establish rules to protect public health from impacts of oil and gas extraction. And finally, as a result of our tireless activism and a new scientific assessment — which has shown that a 3,200 foot buffer zone (also known as setback) is the bare minimum needed to protect people from worst health outcomes including increased risk of breast cancer — CalGEM has issued draft rule to do so.
Now, we need your help to get his draft rule across the finish line so that the oil and gas industry has clear boundaries as to where they can and cannot drill.
Now is the time to join in the action alongside our environmental justice leaders and demand:
- CalGEM implement 3,200 foot setbacks for new wells
- The agency ensures setbacks apply to existing wells
- A ban on all new permits within the setback, until the final rule is in effect
A majority of the residents on the frontlines of oil and gas drilling are from low-income or Black, Indigenous, and Latinx communities. A minimum setback of 3,200 feet that encompasses both new and existing oil and gas sites will protect frontline communities, the same communities that policymakers have allowed oil companies to sacrifice in the name of profit for a hundred years. Join us in taking a stand against this environmental injustice and calling for our health be put before the fossil fuel industry’s interests.
Take action today to hold CalGEM and the Newsom Administration accountable and move these rules forward!
Public comments from California residents will be prioritized, but comments are accepted from people across the country. Even if you don’t live in California – please voice your opinion. As with many environmental policies, implementation often starts in California and emboldens other states to take action.
In Solidarity,
Jayla Burton
Program Manager
P.S. CalGEM is currently hosting a series of virtual public workshops where we will have the opportunity to verbally submit comments on why this draft rule is important. The next workshop held Thursday, December 9. If you are interested in joining me live to share your testimony, please respond to this email and let me know.
|
|
