April 20th, marked the 20th anniversary of the Columbine shooting, which changed everything…
Update with your Tuesday morning coffee: Reach out and say “Hi” to your County Supervisor!
Email: Use this form here to send a message. It has an example letter you can alter or use as is.
Call – Minimal script: I’m calling from [town/area] and I want Supervisor [___] to vote “YES” on the oil well moratorium this afternoon. Over 2.5 million Californians are already exposed to chemicals in their water, with the highest burden placed on low-income and minorities. Please don’t risk our people, don’t risk our water.
Contact:
District 1: Steve Bennett (805) 654-2703, District 2:: Linda Parks (805) 214-2510, District 3: Kelly Long (805) 654-2276, District 4: Bob Huber (805) 955-2300, District 5: John Zaragoza (805) 654-2613
Which one is mine? Check here.
Action #1A – Come support a ban on gun shows at the Ventura County Fairgrounds. DAA Board Meeting – TUESDAY, April 23rd, 9 am.
Momentum is building up across California to get our state out of the gun dealing business. Guns shows have already been banned at Del Mar and at the Cow Palace. (There’s also an impending law banning gun sales at the Cow Palace, see below.)
- Email to the Fair Board: Talking points from the Brady Campaign here. Use personal stories if you can. Send to bquaid@venturacountyfair.org
- Show up at the meeting – Fairgrounds at Derby Hall, 10 W. Harbor Blvd.
- Share flyer on social media – flyer
- Call/email Governor Newsom – You can use the same talking points, contact information here.
“In these times of horrific gun violence, no state agency should be promoting and profiting from the proliferation of firearms and ammunition in our community,”- Ruth Borenstein, a leader of the San Francisco chapter of Brady United Against Gun Violence.
Though people are allowed to own, buy and sell guns according to the laws of their states, there’s no implicit right to having gun shows on public property. For the newly permitted cannabis shows, for example, DAA Board members are instructed to have open, public meetings to determine a community’s values and standards towards such events. Orange County Fair Board members voted to ban them from their Costa Mesa fairgrounds, while Sacramento’s Cal Expo Fairgrounds is having one this weekend.
Our values are we’d prefer not to have gun shows here anymore. (The next one is scheduled here on May 4-5, while Santa Barbara’s Earl Warren Showgrounds only has the Historical Arms & Blades show scheduled.)
Action #2 – Come support the moratorium on oil wells near local water supplies – Board of Supervisors Meeting – TUESDAY April 23rd, 1 pm.
WE WON Part #1 of this fight. The Board of Supervisors voted to draft a moratorium!
Now join CFROG, Food & Water Watch, Ventura Sierra Club and other concerned citizens for the second part of the fight for our right to clean water – asking the Board to pass the ban for the sake of our water, health and safety.
The emergency ban will be voted on on Tuesday, April 23 at 1 PM at the Ventura County Board of Supervisors Chambers in the Hall of Administration, 800 S. Victoria Avenue, Ventura.
Background
A U.S. Geological Survey report detected petroleum-related gases in Oxnard’s and Camarillo’s water supply near tar sands steam injection wells, in concentrations just below the flammable and/or explosive level.
Despite this, Peak Operator still wants to drill up to 200 more steam injection wells going after dirty tar sands oil in the same area, and they’re trying circumvent current environmental laws. In fact, the heavy tar sand oil is so dirty that it can’t even be used in California because it doesn’t meet our low-carbon fuel standards. (See this fact sheet from Food and Water Watch)
Even though these proposed oil wells pose a great threat to our water and air, Peak Operator is trying to use a nearly 40-year-old Environmental Impact Report that doesn’t take current CEQA (CA Environmental Quality Act) or environmental justice laws into account.
The people living closest to the proposed wells are already overburdened with the highest rates of pollution in the state, according to the California EPA. 96% of those residents are Latino and they’re in the top 100th percentile for pesticide exposure, top 96th percentile for asthma rates, and top 98th percentile for cardiovascular disease.
This means Peak Operator intends to use extreme amounts of energy, water and chemicals that will further pollute already disadvantaged communities in order to get tar sands out of the ground, while sending the produced oil to other countries with lower fuel standards to pollute their air.
That is not about energy independence — it’s just corporate greed using our community’s lungs, air and water as a sacrifice zone.
WE FOUGHT BACK! On Tuesday last week, the Board of Supervisors voted to draft an emergency moratoriumthat would put a ban on new oil and gas wells near drinkable water until a full review of its impact on local aquifers is conducted. Here’s Supervisor Steve Bennett’s proposal.
NOW FOR PART 2! That vote was just the first step! The final and most important vote is coming up this Tuesday, April 23, and we need 4 out 5 supervisors to vote the moratorium into effect.
YOUR SUPPORT helped put pressure on Ventura County Supervisors to take action, and IT WORKED! Let’s do it again!
INDIVISIBLE VENTURA 