Orange County Oil Spill Town Hall

Pictured left to right - Cottie Petrie-Norris, Dave Min, Arlis Reynolds, Monica Embrey, Ray Hiemstra, Kim Carr, Kim Kolpin, Sharon Koch, Melissa Brock and Joana Tavares-Reager

Thank you to the City of Costa Mesa and everyone who attended the chapter’s Orange County Oil Spill Town Hall event Saturday evening, November 20. We had a great event with over 50 people attending in person and many more online. You can view the recording of the event here.

Following October’s disastrous leak of 144,00 gallons of crude oil off Huntington Beach causing destruction of sensitive wetland, dead wildlife, and lost public access to California’s beloved coast Chapter leaders in Orange County set out to plan an event focused on the long-term, the who and how measures we need to take to permanently end drilling for fossil fuels off the California coast.

Sierra Club National Energy Campaigns Senior Associate Director, Monica Embrey

Take action! Right now, we’re calling on our Governor and the legislature to prioritize our health and wellbeing by phasing out all offshore and onshore drilling. (sc.org/caoil) Click here to sign our petition and share it with your family and friends.

Next, Tell CalGEM to fully commit to protecting frontline communities by including existing oil wells in their 3,200 ft setbacks and placing a moratorium on new drilling permits. (sc.org/setbacksca) Click to sign, share and attend the virtual public hearing On Dec 1!

Huntington Beach Mayor, Kim Carr discusses the economic impact of the spill on her community and the need to decommission offshore wells. “If you look at the cost-benefit analysis these wells no longer serve a purpose,” she said. “We need to move forward, we need to be forward-thinking.”

“This is not a partisan issue,” said State Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris. “Democrats, Republicans, Independents all across our community want those rigs gone.&rdquo

State Senator Dave Min sees a pathway to end all offshore drilling in state waters by 2023 and knows California can be the one to set an example for the federal government to do the same for federal waters.

US Senator Alex Padilla echoed the sentiment of the other speakers in his prerecorded remarks

Bolsa Chica Land Trust Executive Director, Kim Kolpin

Rebecca Robles, Acjachemen Activist, and Culture Bearer

UCI Ph.D. student researchers Joana Tavares-Reager and Melissa Brock