California Climate Accountability

California promotes itself as a global climate leader – but Big Oil is aggressively turning to processing some of the planet’s dirtiest crude oil at refineries in the state, putting local communities, coastal waterways and the global climate in jeopardy.

Leading this dirty oil onslaught is Phillips 66, as they pursue a massive increase in the number of oil tankers bringing Tar Sands and other crude oils to their refinery at the northern reach of San Francisco Bay. Concerned citizens have raised alarms about the tremendous risk of oil spill disasters in the delicate bay ecosystem from the increased oil tanker traffic.

Making the oil tanker spill threat worse, Tar Sands crude is mixed with a toxic cocktail of chemicals and gas to be transported as diluted bitumen. The impact from a ‘dilbit’ spill in the waters of the bay would be unprecedented because of the way it sinks when spilled, coating the bottom of waterways and impossible to clean up, which would be devastating for the life systems of the ecologically sensitive bay.

Friends of the Earth US is responding to this threat in close coordination with local and regional partners. Our objectives are to halt the proposed increase in oil tanker deliveries to the Phillips 66 refinery, to protect coastal ecosystems from devastating spills and to direct California’s energy future away from climate destroying Tar Sands and other crude oils sourced from the most endangered wild landscapes on the planet.