C-8 Correspondence – Jeannine Pearce
From: Jeannine Pearce [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, March 21, 2023 3:57 PM
To: CityClerk <[email protected]>; Rex Richardson <[email protected]>; Paul Monge <[email protected]>; Tom Modica <[email protected]> Cc: Brady Bradshaw <[email protected]>; Nicole Levin <[email protected]> Subject: Re: Updated Letter Re: Item 8
-EXTERNAL-
Hit send too early. See attached.
I also wanted to also echo that while the city has had this vote in the past, things are different today. The UN Report, the LA Times Article, and the State action all point to you all - the decision makers to do something DIFFERENT. The status quo is not working.
Thanks for all the leadership on many fronts - We respect and appreciate your efforts. We all look forward to meeting on Climate issues in the near future.
Best,
JP
Hon. Jeannine M. Pearce
Principal Founder, Fierce Courage LLC
The Climate Council Convener
SCE Climate Resilience Leadership Group
Advisor, CSULB Environmental Science & Policy MS
562.386.1228 (c) 562.548.0085 (o) Linkedin Page
www.FierceCourageConsulting.com
March 21, 2023
Tom Modica, City Manager
411 W. Ocean Blvd.
Long Beach, CA 90802
Re: Support of Setbacks in Long Beach
Dear Mr. Modica,
We, the undersigned organizations with membership and constituents in Long Beach – the traditional homelands of the Acjachemen and Tongva Peoples – are writing in support of Senate Bill 1137 (SB 1137) and setbacks between oil and gas wells and sensitive sites.
We are deeply disappointed to see
your office’s letter to Governor
Newsom in defiance of SB 1137
1 . This position undermines
critical health and safety
protection zones for your constituents. Furthermore, the City Council did not formally approve this letter.
This stance runs contrary to well-established science and fails to accurately represent the voices of the Long Beach community. We encourage you to retract your statements on SB 1137 and prohibit new oil drilling and rework permits within the 3,200 foot setback zone while we await the results of the referendum. Furthermore, we encourage your office to identify alternative sources of revenue to cover the cost of cleaning up oil wells
and ensure a just transition for impacted workers.
The Referendum Process Undermines Democracy and Allows the Industry to Buy Their Way out of Regulation
As you know, last September the state legislature passed SB 1137, a historic and long overdue bill that prohibits new oil drilling within 3,200 feet of homes, schools, hospitals and other sensitive sites.
The oil industry spent over 20 million dollars to overturn this law with a referendum which will go to the ballot in 2024, delaying these long overdue health protections.
Throughout the state, there have been numerous documented accounts of petitioners misleading voters while collecting signatures for the referendum. 2 In fact, the LA Times
reported canvassers fabricating misinformation to voters that the referendum would ban new oil drilling within setbacks.
3 Thousands of Residents in Long Beach Live Too Close to Oil Drilling Operations Neighborhood oil drilling exposes Long Beach residents to toxic chemicals and smog-forming gasses, which can cause
respiratory illness,
cardiovascular disease,
3 https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-02-07/oil-drilling-referendum-qualified 2 https://www.kvpr.org/local-news/2022-12-30/why-an-oil-industrys-signature-gathering-effort-is-seen-as-misleading 1 https://www.longbeach.gov/globalassets/city-manager/media-library/documents/government-affairs/position-letters---state/2021-2022/letter-to-governor-newsom-expressing-concerns-for-senate-bill-1137--gonzalez-and-limon-oil-and-gas. leukemia, lymphoma, lung cancer, nervous system damage, reproductive and endocrine disruption, birth defects, and premature death.
Neighbors adjacent to
urban oil drilling suffer the most from these health effects. Even once a well is no longer active, it can continue to leak oil, methane, and other gasses, leaving nearby communities at continued risk.
An estimated 140,138 Long Beach residents live within 3,200 feet of an operational oil and gas well within the city limits. This amounts to about 30.2% of the population. Of those, 101,498 (72.4%) are people of color.
Communities of color and low-income households are most affected by neighborhood oil drilling. Many neighborhoods with urban oil drilling operations are currently exposed to other environmental hazards and pollution, such as heavy transportation corridors and port operations.
The stance on setbacks as currently set by your office is allowing for the expansion of an already catastrophic public health crisis. And as evidenced by these organizations who have signed on, it does not represent the stance of the people you represent.
I
nstead of using city resources fighting these overdue
health and safety protections, we
urge you to use your time and resources to identify alternative revenue sources to fund oil well clean up
and work with impacted workers and
community members to enable a
just transition.
Thank you for considering our comments.
Signed,
Nicole Levin - Campaigner, Sierra Club Dirty Fuels
Nancy Woo - Hub Coordinator, Sunrise Long Beach
Brady Bradshaw - Campaigner, Center for Biological Diversity Tina Calderon - Director, Sacred Grounds ™
Jeannine Pearce- Councilwoman Emerira, Newkirk Climate Fellow, Better World Group Charles Miller - Chair, Los Angeles Climate Reality Project Jan Victor Andasan - Community Organizer, East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice
Bill Sive - West Coast Coordinator, Queers 4 Climate
Karen Reside - Executive Director, Long Beach Grey Panthers Ellie Cohen - Executive Director, The Climate Center
Maro Kakoussian - Climate Justice Organizing Manager, Physicians for Social Responsibility
Kobi Naseck - Coalition Coordinator, Voices in Solidarity Against Oil in Neighborhoods (VISIÓN)
Paulina Torres- Staff Attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council Naida Tushnet, Commissioner and Founder Women of Long Beach Vivian Price, CSUDH Professor, Prior Labor Studies Chair Steve Askin,
Founder and Research Director, Small
World Strategy
James Sauzo, Director Long Beach Forward
Keyona Montgomery, Equity and Human Relations Commissioner Dr. Daniel Lee, DSW, MSW Culver City Mayor Emeritus
Pete Marsh - Group Leader, Citizens' Climate Lobby Long Beach Area Chapter Meghan Sahli-Wells,
National Sierra Club Board Secretary
& former Mayor of Culver City
Christine E. Petit, PhD, parent of a kindergartener
, Parent and 3rd district resident
Christa Indriolo