Category Archives: Climate Change

Bay Area Refineries, Climate Change, Crude By Rail, Take Action

CRUDE – inspirational speeches & videos

Repost from C.R.U.D.E. (Crockett-Rodeo United to Defend the Environment)

INSPIRATION: Speeches and Educational Forum Film clips

This page has select video recordings of teach-ins from the 2013-14 Sunflower Alliance speakers series as well as the keynote speaker for the 350 BayArea DIrty Energy Clean Energy conference, Stanford University’s Dr. Marc Jacobson. Film clips from the Sunlfower Alliance forums (shown below) feature the following speakers:  Antonia Juhasz (investigative reporter, oil industry analyst and author); Greg Karras (refinery specialist and senior scientist with CBE); Marilaine Savaard (spokesperson from the Lac Megantic Citizens Committee); Diane Bailey (senior scientist, Natural Resources Defence Council); Mayor Gayle McLaughlin of the City of RIchmond; Pennie Opal Plant (Idle No More) and, last but not least, community activists Marilyn Bardet (Benicia), George and Lyana Monterey (Pittsburg) and Nancy Rieser (Crockett/Rodeo)

But first…

  • A MOMENT OF INSPIRATION FROM THE 2014 GOLDMAN ENVIRONMENTAL AWARDS (San Francisco)

THE ROBERT KENNEDY JR KEYNOTE SPEECH: For 25 years the Goldman family has been honoring grassroots environmental activists from all over the world.  This year, Kennedy opened the awards ceremony. His voice was hoarse but his words and spirit were passionate.  Kennedy pulled no punches and basically blew the top off the Opera House.

For all of you battle-weary activists out there, take heart!  There ARE folks out there — no different from you or me — who fight the Davy and Goliath battles and prevail!

Here are the 2014 award winners:  http://www.goldmanprize.org/recipients/current kennedyHere is Kennedy’s speech:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac86elWP-l0

  • SUNFLOWER ALLIANCE CRUDE BY RAIL COMMUNITY FORUMS 

Sunflower Alliance sponsored educational forums in Berkeley, Martinez, Pittsburg and Richmond informed the public about the dangers of crude by rail and the local refinery expansion projects, namely: Chevron (Richmond), Phillips 66 (Rodeo) Valero (Benicia) and Wespac (Pittsburg). Below are links that will give you access to speaker content from the Sunflower Alliance forums in both RIchmond  and in Berkeley.  These film clips are really the next best thing to being there!

girl with gas mask

To see presentations made by the 5 people below (filmed at the Bobby Bowens Center in RIchmond), click here  http://www.sunflower-alliance.org/video_clips_forum_on_crude_by_rail

  • Antonia Juhasz (leading oil industry analyst, author of Black Tide: The Devastating Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill and The Tyranny of Oil: The World’s ,Most Powerful Industry – and What We Must Do To Stop It)
  • Marilaine Savaard (spokesperson for the Citizens Committee of Lac-Megantic Quebec, site of the devasting oil train explosion that wiped out the center of town and claimed 47 lives)
  • Gayle McClaughlin (City of RIchmond Mayor who has taken on Chevron)
  • George Monterrey (a community organizer from the Pittsburg Ethics Council, one of two organizations who have taken on the Wespac infrastructure project)
  • Pennie Opal Plant (Idle No More, SF Bay Solidarity and the Connect the Dots Refinery Corridor Healing Walks)

To see presentations made by the 5 people below (filmed at the Berkeley Ecology Center) click here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgpCKeWaLhk&list=PLpBEkz110SpOb-DDgp70S6Cd6swBTBoA0&index=2

  • Greg Karras (senior scientist from Communities for a Better Environment/CBE)
  • Marilyn Bardet (Community Activist from Benicia, fighting the Valero project)
  • Diane Bailey (senior scientist, Natural Resources Defense Council)
  • Lyana Monterrey (activist, Pittsburg Defence Council organzing around the  WesPac infrastructure project)
  • Nancy Rieser (activist from Crockett, one of many folks dealing with the Phillips 66 project in Rodeo)

If you keep watching…you will see more clips from a “Call to Action” sponsored by the group, Benicians for a Safe and Healthy Community.

  • WATCH THIS SPACE FOR KEYNOTE SPEECH BY STANFORD PROFESSOR MARC JACOBSON AT MAY 2014 THE DIRTY ENERGY/CLEAN SOLUTIONS CLIMATE CONFERENCE IN THE SF BAY AREA

While we wait for the presentation to go up on the web, enjoy this video of David Letterman interviewing the professor! Click the link below to watch the Late Show segment.

http://vimeo.com/83279421jacobson

Bay Area, Climate Change, Take Action

Dirty Energy – Clean Solutions: Climate Conference, May 9th -11th

Repost from The Sunflower Alliance and 350.org
[Editor: Highly recommended.  Note that Benicia’s own Marilyn Bardet will welcome participants and introduce Richard Heinberg at 9am Saturday morning, Laney College, Oakland.  Richard is a noted author and Senior Fellow of the Post Carbon Institute and is widely regarded as one of the world’s foremost Peak Oil educators.  – RS]

Dirty Energy – Clean Solutions: Climate Conference, May 9th -11th

clean-energy-conference.gifThis first ever grassroots Climate Conference featuring activists and leading scientists addressing technical and political climate topics.

Friday
First Unitarian Church, San Francisco
Featured speaker, Professor Mark Jacobsen

Saturday
Laney College, Oakland
Panels tackling urgent issues in climate movement, including
• Fracking in California
• Fossil fuel infrastructure expansion in California
• Clean energy solutions
Lunch included.

Sunday
Laney College, Oakland.
Workshops and trainings to strategize on ways to stop the fossil fuel attack.
These include The People’s Climate Curriculum, presented by Laurie Baumgarten.

Complete list of speakers and agenda
Would you like to volunteer to help at the Conference?

To register and view full schedule,visit  conference web page.
Buy tickets today to take advantage of Early Bird pricing.

Bay Area Air Quality Management District, California Air Resources Board (CARB), California Regulation, Climate Change, Environmental Impacts, Local Regulation, Public Health

Bay Area Air District sets new goals for 2050

Repost from The Contra Costa Times

Bay Area Air Quality Management District adopts plan to control greenhouse gases

By Denis Cuff Contra Costa Times
Posted: 04/03/2014

It has fought to rein in smog and smoke for years, but now the Bay Area’s air pollution board is tackling a new challenge: reducing greenhouse gases.

A plan to speed up work on reducing global warming gases from the region’s businesses, industries and residents was adopted Wednesday by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District Board.

Under one of the 10 measures, the district will review its industrial and business pollution rules to decide if changes are needed to cut down on carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases.

Any changes in regional rules would be closely coordinated with the state Air Resources Board, the leader of the state’s climate control effort, air district officials said.

“It’s very important we complement what the state is doing and not cause confusion or conflict,” said Henry Hilken, the air district’s director of planning and research.

If rule changes are made, they likely will focus on making industries change operations to make less pollution, rather than to control it afterwards, he added.

The clean air agency also will increase its technical advice to cities and counties considering local climate action measures such as setting local building energy efficiency standards. The district also will help seek funding for those local agencies.

To prepare for the extra workload, the air district later this year will propose adding four new employees to work on greenhouse gas issues.

Under the plan, the district will monitor the region’s progress toward meeting state goals for reducing greenhouse gas levels 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.

If the region isn’t moving fast enough, the district will announce it, then coordinate efforts by city, county, state, federal and regional efforts to close the gap.

Under old estimates yet to be updated, the Bay Area in 1990 generated some 87.7 million tons of greenhouse gases equivalent to carbon dioxide. An 80 percent cut would drop that to 17.5 metric tons.

Those figures are likely to be modified when the air district updates its estimates, officials said.

Actions to control greenhouse gases will not only protect the earth from overheating, but also help to reduce Bay Area smog and fine particle pollution, Hilken said.

Most of this plan is geared at actions to be taken in the next two years, before more permanent measures are adopted in 2015.

Bay Area Refineries, California Regulation, Climate Change, DEIR, Environmental Impacts, Rail Safety, Valero Crude By Rail

KCBS Radio report on Valero meeting

Repost from KCBS Radio 740AM, 106.9FM

Valero Confirms Plans For Crude Oil By Rail At Benicia Community Meeting

March 25, 2014 1:14 PM
Refinery at Sunrise

The Valero refinery in Benicia. (James Irwin/CBS)

BENICIA (KCBS) – On the day a Bay Area state senator was voicing concerns over the transport of crude oil by rail, the Valero refinery in Benicia has announced at a community meeting it wants to do just that.

There was standing room only where about 200 people showed up for the meeting on Monday night at the Ironworkers Union Local 378 hall to hear Valero outline its crude-by-rail project.

[Audio with interview of Jan Cox-Golovich and others.]

Many who attended were skeptical of the plan which critics claim will result with two trains a day made up of 50 tanker cars each.

“It’s been proven that Bakken crude is a lot lighter and it’s very volatile and there’s been explosions and derailments and spills,” Jan Cox Golovich, a member of Benicians for a Safe and Healthy Community.

But another attendee, Frank Sykes, said that using railcars would avoid a Cosco Busan or Exxon Valdez accident and that it would bring hundreds of jobs.

“I believe in Murphy’s Law—if it can happen, it will happen—but can’t live your life like that because nothing will ever get done,” he said. “If something was to happen out in the water ways, there’s a lot more damage that could be done.”

Environmentalists, however, point out that many rails lines traverse along the state’s rivers.

The meeting was peaceful but it was clear Valero has a long way to go to placate community members. Valero spokesman Chris Howe said the company understands there is opposition but said everyone will get a chance to weigh in.

“The environmental impact report is due out in the early part of next month, we’re expecting; the city will have a comment period,” he said

“It’s clear that the opponents of our project have a view; we scheduled this meeting tonight to bring some credentials experts.”