TELL GOV. NEWSOM: PROTECT OUR LUNGS AND FUTURE, STOP BIG OIL FUELING THE FLAMES
California Governor Gavin Newsom
California’s young people are quite literally seeing our futures go up in smoke. Over the last few years, we have watched as extreme wildfires have ravaged California, leaving families and whole communities devastated in their wake. Governor Gavin Newsom has rightly linked the intensity and severity of these fires to the climate emergency and has taken significant steps to phase out oil drilling over the long term.
Yet, California continues to produce some of the dirtiest oil in the world and allows drilling to continue in neighborhoods right next to schools, homes, and hospitals, which predominantly harms low-income communities of color. We need our Governor to do more, and faster.
Earlier this year the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change announced 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming is still possible but only if global emissions are cut in half by 2030. California has the opportunity to be a nation and worldwide climate leader but only if we act now.
Join California’s youth climate leaders and tell Gov. Newsom to protect our health and future. We are calling on him to:
1) Stop issuing any new permits for oil and gas drilling in California -- immediately;
2) Drop existing fossil fuel production with a just and equitable transition that protects workers, communities, and economies;
3) Roll out stronger statewide 3,200-foot health-and-safety buffer zones between fossil fuel infrastructure and homes, schools and other sensitive sites that cover new and existing oil wells.
As young people, we cannot stand by while Big Oil condemns our future to more extreme fires, megadroughts, heatwaves, floods, and disruption. The Governor has an opportunity to show true climate leadership and must act now. It is still within his power to accelerate the transition off fossil fuel production, stop issuing new fossil fuel permits, and roll out 3200ft health and safety buffer zones to end neighborhood drilling today.
Our future and health are on the line, and we need the Governor to act like it.
Act now to urge Gov. Newsom to #GiveUsBackOurFuture.
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To:
California Governor Gavin Newsom
From:
[Your Name]
Dear Governor Gavin Newsom,
As a young Californian watching the climate crisis play out in real time, I am living in a state of fear and anger about what my future may hold. But I am also holding onto hope that you will do the right thing and be the true climate leader we need you to be. As such, I am urging you to immediately stop issuing new oil and gas permits, strengthen the 3200ft setback rule to include new and existing oil wells, and begin phasing out fossil fuels in California.
As you have said, the horrific, extreme wildfires that have ravaged California communities are fueled by climate change, which has made them more severe and more intense. If we are to avoid the most catastrophic climate damages, the vast majority of fossil fuels have to stay in the ground. That’s why we’re calling on you to commit to ending all new fossil fuel permitting today.
For too long, oil and gas companies have treated communities of color as sacrifice zones. Issuing more permits for drilling in these areas only reproduces the systemic racism we all oppose. In addition to the increased impact on at-risk communities during the pandemic, numerous studies show that oil drilling in California contributes to serious health problems such as underweight births, asthma, respiratory illnesses and cancer.
You have made exciting and significant steps to stand up to big oil, like being the first governor of a major oil producing state to commit to phasing out oil production, introducing the largest setback distances in the country, and banning fracking. But we need so much more and so much faster to end environmental racism and stop the worst consequences of climate change from destroying my generation’s future.
Our window to a better life ahead is rapidly closing as the IPCC 2022 report rang yet another alarm; global emissions must be cut in half by 2030 to stay under 1.5 degrees Celsius warming and avoid runaway climate change. Now is the time for you to show the United States and the world how powerful California can be in tackling the climate crisis.
As governor of a major world economy and one of the largest oil-producing states in the country, you have the power to usher in a just and thriving future for all Californians.
I'm urging you to live up to the promises you've made, be a climate leader, and use your executive authority to:
1) Stop issuing any new permits for oil and gas drilling in California -- immediately;
2) Drop existing fossil fuel production with a just and equitable transition that protects workers, communities, and economies;
3) Roll out stronger statewide 3,200-foot health-and-safety buffer zones between fossil fuel infrastructure and homes, schools and other sensitive sites that cover new and existing oil wells.
Don't betray my generation. Please be the leader we need and stop fueling the climate crisis. California’s youth call on you to protect our future and act today.