How We Stop the Next Oil Spill

“Not again.” That was my first thought the moment I heard that over 100,000 gallons of oil had spilled into coastal waters, contaminating Huntington and Newport Beaches in early October.

My mind kept going back to an event I attended with Congressional candidate Harley Rouda in 2018. It was just a few years after the Refugio Oil Spill in Santa Barbara, and we talked about if Huntington Beach could be next. Unfortunately, we’ve learned by watching oil spill after oil spill that no amount of regulation can make oil drilling completely safe. Even with the most earnest effort to prevent oil spills, human error will always be a factor.

The only way to truly prevent oil spills is for our country to shift away from our dependence on fossil fuels and transition to clean, renewable energy. We know how to make this change, but there has been a lack of political will from our elected officials to make it happen. Rep. Michelle Steel (CA-48) is the perfect example.

What is her solution to prevent oil spills? Reduce the number of cargo ships off the coast. No, seriously. I’ll give you a minute to stop laughing.

Obvious to everyone except Rep. Steel, cargo ships are NOT the root of the problem. When you drill for oil, there will be oil spills. But Rep. Steel, who has taken money from the oil industry, is unwilling to hold these corporate polluters accountable. She’s made clear which side she’s on, and it’s not ours.

That’s why California Environmental Voters brought together environmental leaders and community members to mobilize outside the office of Congresswoman Steel following the oil spill. We called for Rep. Steel to help end offshore drilling and pass the infrastructure bills currently being debated in Congress.

The bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act would modernize our surface transportation infrastructure and the Build Back Better Act would make significant strides towards addressing the climate crisis. Passing the bills would help our country transition to clean energy, improve our drinking water systems, mitigate the impacts of wildfire on our state, and more. We need this bold action now!

While these bills are debated at the federal level, we are also looking at what we can accomplish in the upcoming state legislative session. Far too many climate bills didn’t make it to the Governor’s desk this year, but those bills will be back in 2022. And with an election on the horizon, California voters will be watching to see if their legislators have the courage to move us away from oil drilling and addressing the climate crisis.

The transition to a clean energy future may seem daunting, but I am still hopeful about what we can accomplish. We can electrify and retrofit our buildings to run on clean energy, create hundreds of thousands of electric charging stations instead of relying on gas, produce enough solar and offshore wind to power our homes and buildings, and replace our aging lead pipe infrastructure with one that brings clean water to every home. This is a future worth fighting for.

Polluters want us to feel overwhelmed. Only 100 corporations are responsible for 71% of the planet’s emissions. They are pushing back on every change we attempt to make. They want us to feel discouraged. But your voice matters.

Every time we don’t pick up the phone to tell our lawmakers to stop the drilling is a win for polluters who want us to do nothing. But apathy kills. If lawmakers don’t hear from us, they don’t know that we care. When people are energized and engaged, we can do big things. That is why we have to tell our current representatives what we want and elect people who share our values.

The single most important thing Californians can do is to vote. We need to elect more leaders like State Senator Dave Min (D-Irvine) and Congresswoman Katie Porter (CA-45) who ask tough questions and propose big ideas. Both Senator Min and Rep. Porter defeated climate deniers to win their seats, and they are truly leading on this effort. The second most important thing is to reach out to your representatives once they’re elected and let them know you care.

I don’t want to hear about another oil spill in a year or two or three and have to say “Not again.” Let’s make big, bold changes together and let’s do it now!

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The month of March is Public Lands Month, and we’ve got some big goals. We’re pushing for 5 national monument designations while fighting for clean water, Indigenous land protection, ecosystem conservation, and increasing access to nature. 

But we need your help to make these campaigns a success →