Page 7 - Sonoma County Gazette June 2017

OPINION: Will We Let Trump Bring Offshore Drilling to the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast?
Deepwater Horizon o shore drilling unit on re, 2010
By Richard Charter
Our beloved coastline here in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties suddenly
nds itself in the crosshairs of the Trump Administration’s o shore drilling scheme, which is now even targeting our fragile National Marine Sanctuary. Recently, on April 28, President Trump signed the “America First O shore Energy Executive Order” which radically reframes o shore petroleum plans for all U.S. federal waters, including those o of the Paci c Coast.
Trump’s Executive Order clearly targets Northern California by starting a 120-day “review” by the Secretary of Commerce of the 2015 designation of the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. This long-sought addition to our Sanctuaries expanded our coast’s northernmost zone of permanent protection from Bodega Head by extending it to Pt. Arena. This Sonoma-Mendocino
Coast boundary expansion resulted from an inclusive administrative process conducted by the Sanctuary System, working closely with our region’s entire community.
Trump’s Executive Order ignores the twenty-year record of bipartisan support for this Sanctuary as evidenced by every California Governor, U.S. Senator, Congressional Representative, and state legislator serving throughout that time. The commercial shing industry, the tourism industry, and all a ected local governments, including the Boards of Supervisors of Sonoma, Mendocino, and Marin Counties and others, were all consistently supportive of this boundary expansion.
By KBBF volunteer Serena Makofsky
Board Meeting Update
The Board of Directors of the Bilingual Broadcasting Foundation and KBBF will now meet the second Saturday of each month at 10am. This marks a change to the calendar. Meetings take place at KBBF’s o ces, located at 1700 Corby Avenue, Suite B, in Santa Rosa. The public is welcome to attend and discover what is happening at their local bilingual community radio station, share input, and learn how they can get involved.
Eye on the Future
As part of the Railroad Square Music Festival’s day of events, the Another World is Possible Coalition and many participants from the North Bay Community Engagement Fair are staging Future Visions Through Music, Art, Politics. Exhibitors devoted to developing community and collaborating to secure civil liberties will be present. Check it out at the Arlene Francis Center, at 99 West 6th Street, Santa Rosa, telephone 707-528-3009.
On June 7th, join the Sonoma County branch of the national organization known as SURJ. You can engage in exercises and dialogs designed to educate yourself politically and join a committee devoted to learning and action regarding issues concerning people of color. It is also an opportunity to connect with the local community. The meeting takes place at the Sebastopol Grange #306, from 6:30 to 8:30pm.
As the current Administration now erases and rewrites President Obama’s o shore drilling plan, new oil leasing targets along the California Coast will likely include much of the northern San Diego coastline, the Orange County coast, the Palos Verdes Peninsula, and waters within Santa Monica Bay near Malibu. Californians could also expect many more rigs in the Santa Barbara Channel, along with drilling o of San Luis Obispo County and, for the rst time, all along the Mendocino and Humboldt County coastlines, particularly near Little River, Mendocino Village, Ft. Bragg, and the Lost Coast.
This White House seems xated on undoing the legacies of past Presidents who held elective o ce long before Trump himself was ever even a player
in the political arena. But we do not have to allow our coastal economy to be sacri ced to an Administration governed by the oil lobby. We can, and will, ght back against this corporate over-reach and blatant disregard for America’s natural treasures by joining with our own region’s elected o cials in standing up to these corporate petroleum industry special interests in public hearings, at the ballot box, and in the Courts.
Showing Up for Racial Justice
That the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast is not for sale was already settled long ago.
Richard Charter is a Senior Fellow with The Ocean Foundation and has lived in Bodega Bay for forty years.
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