Photo by Bo Hakala
The question of the summer is almost always: “So, have you got any big plans?” Our answer is a resounding, “We sure do! And we want you to join us!” We’re not only hiking up mountains this summer, we are conquering one of the biggest mountains of the moment: stopping oil drilling in Los Angeles and Orange Counties.
The Angeles Chapter’s summer fundraising appeal focuses on engaging, educating, and empowering thousands of people in Los Angeles and Orange counties, to help stop dirty polluters like Signal Hill Petroleum (SHP).
Our goal this summer is to raise at least $20,000 by July 31– with every dollar being put to work immediately, before any potential consequences take hold.
Please go to sc.org/SummerSoCalNow to join us in the biggest plan for the summer!
We are pushing back against SHP’s proposed 20-year oil-drilling-permit extension in Signal Hill. SHP’s plan will further delay a clean-energy transition and will have far-reaching threats to the environment and human health. We can prevent this dangerous permit extension and put a stop to as many as 46 new wells. (The Long Beach / Signal Hill Oilfield already includes more than 400 wells!).
We are fighting for the health of all of our neighborhoods. Living, working, and going to school within 2.5 miles from oil derricks is known to increase cancer, respiratory illnesses, and cardiovascular disease. With your help, we can stop the proposed drill sites that will be within the 3,200-ft (0.6 miles) “health protection zone,” shouldered on disadvantaged communities.
We won’t let SHP kill our planet. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that existing and currently planned fossil-fuel projects already are more than the climate can handle. Continuing oil drilling in Signal Hill, for any amount of time, but especially for another 20 years, is antithetical to these findings.
What’s happening in Signal Hill is not an isolated issue. Long Beach, too, contains several hundred active and inactive oil wells discreetly placed near neighborhoods and neighborhood hubs, such as shopping centers and parks. Everyday, the Angeles Chapter is fighting to clean up idle oil wells and hold LA and Orange County accountable for their commitment to end oil drilling.
Challenges like the one we are facing in Signal Hill are significant, and foes like SHP have significant resources, but with your support our impact can be powerful!
We set this fundraising goal knowing how much it will take to win. Right now, we are canvassing, mobilizing, and adding resources to this fight. Your donation can – and will – propel our momentum to victory.
This effort is one worth sharing with your friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers. Recently, we organized three days of canvassing in Signal Hill, with dozens of volunteers knocking on more than 300 doors. Not a single resident knew about the proposed expansion by Signal Hill Petroleum – not even the Mayor’s neighbor, who didn’t understand how the city was allowing this to happen in the shadows.
In real time, we are learning that once people find out what’s about to happen – and how this could easily happen all across southern California – they quickly jump into action by spreading the truth, engaging in public comment, contacting City Council, and making their voice heard loud and clear. This is how we win, as long as we keep at it.
The focus of our work this summer is ambitious and we cannot do it alone. We have seen what donors like you can do to help transform our energy systems and protect vulnerable communities.
Every contribution, large or small, fuels our capacity to enact real, lasting change.
Please go to sc.org/SummerSoCalNow to join us in the biggest plan for the summer!
We have a unique opportunity to make change this summer and set us all on a more sustainable path. Thank you for investing in our local work – 100% of giving stays here in Los Angeles and Orange County. Your contribution is the key to a cleaner, greener world!