The climate is changing, and people around the world can feel it. Fossil fuel infrastructure – like refineries and oil fields – is not only part of climate change, it is deeply impacting local communities. California Governor Jerry Brown has the opportunity to show real climate leadership in his last few months in office. He can stop new fossil fuel permits and protect communities that are polluted by oil and gas drilling and fracking. We’d like to share the stories of the people who would be affected by his actions…or lack of action. Will you share your story of how climate change or fossil fuel infrastructure are affecting you, your family, where you live, or a place you like to visit?
We want to hear your story.
Together, we're building a movement to combat climate change by ending fossil fuel extraction in California.
California is a unique state, blessed with places like Yosemite, a varied and rugged coast, deserts, unique oak and redwood forests, and the Central Valley, which provides much of the nation’s food. We want to preserve these resources, as well as our communities, not see them harmed by wildfires, droughts, rising ocean levels, mudslides, smog and other effects of climate change.
Our governor, Jerry Brown, has the power to be a true climate leader for California and the nation. He could end all new fossil fuel infrastructure in California, taking a dramatic, bold step towards ending fossil fuel extraction in California for good that would set a global precedent among would-be climate leaders.
This is why we need to ensure Governor Brown hears your stories. Will you take a minute to tell Governor Brown how climate change and/or fossil fuel infrastructure is impacting you? Feel free to include an image, and we will be sure to fax your story directly to Governor Brown’s office.
Here are some prompts to get you thinking:
- Have you observed changes where you live that are scientifically connected to climate change?
- How have warming temperatures over the past decade affected you, your surroundings, or your community?
- Do you worry about how the changing climate will impact California’s parks and wildlife?
- What concerns do you have about how climate change will affect your future?
- Have you experienced hardship due to drought or more intense wildfires?
- Do you live by the coast? How might sea level rise affect your community?Do you live near oil fields, refineries, or fracking sites? What is that like and how does it affect your community or your family?
I grew up in California. My dad likes to say i was raised to be a tree-hugger – which is pretty accurate. Schooled at UC Berkeley’s College of Natural Resources, I went off into the world to make whatever impact I could for this planet at the end of 2016. I ended up in Louisiana, which is one of the poorest and most polluted states in the country. I started my work here, advocating for environmental reform, as a proud California native, telling skeptics to look towards my home as some sort of magical blueprint for a sustainable future.
But now I’m not so sure. Louisiana is home to one of the fastest rates of land-loss in the world, caused by sea-level rise and the many pipelines which have seared their existence into the landscape. Oil extraction infrastructure has marked the land of this nation as its own, and the people of Louisiana are paying for it. Already the state is faced with the burden of relocating America’s first officially recognized climate refugees, as the people of Isle de Jean Charles will soon be without a home. I’ve come to wonder how proud of California I should really be. California is a driving state, one of the states with the most fossil fuel extraction in the country, and a state that leaves the effects of climate change to be borne by poor and marginalized communities. The wealth of California allows it to push the environmental and social costs of fossil fuel extraction to be borne by places like Louisiana, as well as by frontline communities in California. I thinks it’s time for California to actually make me proud. To take a bold stance on climate change, to end all new extraction in the state, and to truly pave the way for a just future for all people in this nation.
Emma Yip
Co-Founder, Delta Collaborative
California’s largest lake, the Salton Sea, has been chronically impacted by the effects of climate change and global warming. I live here, and it is one of the most biodiverse and special places in North America. But lack of water sustainability is spiking salinity, wiping out countless animals and causing toxic dust storms. Although there are great options for reasonable restoration, the gross mismanagement of resources and countless false promises by our government has left the region truly suffering and wanting for leadership, a real long-term roadmap for restoration, and appropriate resources.
The entire southwest of the United States is facing major water shortages. In addition to overall drying, our air quality is being severely compromised. As the mayor of West Shores Salton Sea, it hurts me to see my community suffering due to the deadly combination of climate change and lack of climate leadership. This region has tremendous resources for renewable energy- solar, wind and geothermal. Our population at the Salton Sea supports the stance of Greenpeace in moving towards a fossil fuel free future. At this point, there are just better options. Please enact policies that restore the Salton Sea region – let’s share a sustainable and innovative future using clean and renewable energy.
Kerry F. Morrison
Mayor, West Shores Salton Sea