California oil spill shows gas operations near wildlife habitat equate to recipe for disaster

Dolphins near fossil fuel exploitation – Photo courtesy of Peter Bennett

Great Egrets in the Ballona Wetlands of Los Angeles – photo by Jonathan Coffin

Defend the Ballona wetlands logo

Burrowing Owl Ballona – Photo by Jonathan Coffin

Los Angeles environmentalists are urging California Governor Newsom to shut down the gas storage facility under the Ballona Wetlands and decommissioning oil rigs off the coast of Los Angeles.

MARINA DEL REY, CA, UNITED STATES, October 8, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ – As a tragic oil spill in Orange County devastated shores, beaches, wetlands and coastal ecosystems, Los Angeles wildlife and climate activists are calling on the governor of California Gavin Newsom to shut down wildlife-threatening fossil fuel operations and abandon bogus “restorations” that help the oil and gas industry.

“It is clear from the public outcry over this disaster involving an aging pipeline that Californians cherish wetlands and shorelines and have given up on ‘business as usual.’ Governor Newsom needs bold action – the kind he promised when he first campaigned for Governor several years ago, ”said Marcia Hanscom, who chairs the Restoration Committee. Sierra Club’s Ballona wetlands.

Calls for help from these endangered wetlands coincide with the release of a short documentary produced by award-winning journalist Jane Velez-Mitchell. In the documentary, activist Molly Basler, a climate reality leader trained by Al Gore, speaks during a protest at the Ballona Wetlands State Ecological Reserve, where gas and oil pipelines , wells and drilling equipment are distributed throughout the sensitive habitat area.

“We urge Governor Newsom to heed this red flag and take immediate action to shut down the aging Playa del Rey methane gas facility and withdraw the bogus ‘restoration’ plan that would allow the installation of new fossil fuel infrastructure, ”explained Basel.

Many organizations, including In Defense of Animals, Youth Climate Save and Food & Water Watch, are expressing new concerns over the state’s plans to raze the Ballona wetlands in a way that would wipe out wildlife.

“I was in tears for the first 48 hours after hearing about the ecological disaster on our coast. We must stop allowing fossil fuel operations where sensitive wildlife resides. Governor Newsom’s strong words on the disaster are a good start; now we are calling on her to prevent her own agencies from causing further damage to the Ballona wetlands and to decommission oil rigs off our coasts, ”said Judie Mancuso, founder of Social Compassion in Legislation.

Environmental scholar Robert van de Hoek, who has documented the sensitive wildlife the state is tasked with protecting, explained why people are so upset: “The California Department of Fish & Wildlife is in the ocean to clean up a tragic oil disaster, while the same agency cooperates with the fossil fuel industry by approving bulldozer projects in the wetlands of Los Cerritos and Ballona. “

LINK TO FACEBOOK SHORT DOCUMENTARY:
https://fb.watch/8vJlgfKW_k/

Several city and county governments have called for the decommissioning of the gas storage facility in the wetlands of Ballona.

For more information: defendballonawetlands.org

Contacts: Marcia Hanscom, Sierra Club (310) 877-2634 [email protected]

Marcia hanscom
Defend the wetlands of Ballona
+1 310-210-6696
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