D.C. Rally to Urge Governor Brown to Halt New Oil and Gas Projects, Protect Californians’ Health
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Groups with the Brown’s Last Chance campaign will rally outside the National Press Building tomorrow to demand that Gov. Jerry Brown freeze new fossil fuel extraction in California and devise a plan to phase it out entirely. The rally will precede Gov. Brown’s scheduled appearance at the National Press Club.
What: Activists will greet Gov. Brown with banners outside his scheduled appearance at the National Press Club to demand an end to new fossil fuel projects in California and a plan to phase out the state’s dirty fuel extraction.
When: 8 a.m. Tuesday, April 17
Where: National Press Building at 529 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.
Who: Groups with the Brown’s Last Chance Campaign, including the Center for Biological Diversity, Earthworks, Food and Water Watch, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and Oil Change International
Background: California is one of the nation’s top oil-extracting states. The Brown’s Last Chance campaign is a large and growing coalition of over 750 community, environmental justice, faith-based and climate organizations urging Gov. Brown put the health and wellbeing of Californians and vulnerable communities everywhere before oil industry profits.
The campaign launched last week with a letter demanding that Brown halt the development of all new dirty fuel projects in California, create a plan to phase out all fossil fuel extraction as quickly as possible and provide support and opportunities for those most impacted by the transition. If Brown does not act, he will lose the groups’ support for the Global Climate Action Summit he will host in September in San Francisco.
“Governor Brown may talk a good game on climate, but he is making sweetheart deals behind closed doors with some of the planet’s worst polluters,” said Liz Butler, vice president of organizing and strategic alliances at Friends of the Earth. “Brown’s false climate solutions are a disgrace to a nation that is desperately looking for climate leadership. Instead of offering fossil fuel companies fig leaves for our climate crisis, Governor Brown should be holding them accountable for destroying our planet.”
“California’s dirty oil extraction undercuts all other progress the state makes fighting climate change,” said Jean Su, associate conservation director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The governor won’t be a real climate leader until he reins in the drilling free-for-all in his own state.”
“In Jerry Brown’s own words, the climate challenge is about life itself. If we still believe in a climate-safe future, there is no more room for new fossil fuels in California,” said Janet Redman, U.S. policy director at Oil Change International. “For Governor Brown to claim a legacy of climate leadership, he has to start a managed phaseout of oil and gas drilling, starting with wells that most impact Californians’ health.”
“When it comes to climate action, Governor Brown talks a good game, but he has bent over backwards for the oil and gas industry and refused to protect communities from drilling and fracking,” said Mark Schlosberg, organizing co-director at Food and Water Watch. “If he really wants to be a climate leader, he needs to take on these industries and act aggressively to move California off fossil fuels.”
Communications Contacts:
Erin Jensen, Friends of the Earth, (202) 222-0722, [email protected]
Jean Su, Center for Biological Diversity, (415) 770-3187, [email protected]
Darcey Rakestraw, Food and Water Watch, (202) 683-2467, [email protected]
Janet Redman, Oil Change International, (508) 340-0464, [email protected]
Photos from the Event:
Please credit Friends of the Earth.