San Francisco Bay dredging proposal is a handout from Trump to the oil industry
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The U.S. federal government and the Army Corps of Engineers are enacting a plan that will threaten the health of California communities.
By Isabella Zizi, Climate Campaigner, Stand.earth
From the outside looking in, the Bay Area is a bastion of progressive values and environmental stewardship, but when you look a little bit closer, the picture isn’t nearly as pretty. Right now, with support from local governments, the federal Army Corps of Engineers is pushing forward a proposal to dredge the San Francisco Bay to accommodate more oil tankers. This project is a handout from the federal government to the oil industry, at a time when California communities and the world need to push forward a clean energy transition.
A few miles north of San Francisco lies the “refinery corridor” of the East Bay. In this corridor are five different oil refineries, which for years have poisoned people who live nearby, causing respiratory illnesses, birth defects, brain damage, and cancer, all thanks to the refinery smokestacks spewing heavy pollution on a daily basis.
This is my home. My reality. I am a member of the Northern Cheyenne, Arikara and Muskogee Creek Nations and I grew up in Richmond, living two miles away from the Richmond Chevron Refinery. In August 2012, one month after my high school graduation, a massive explosion at the refinery sent 15,000 residents to the hospital. Since then, I’ve been advocating for a just transition away from these dangerous, polluting facilities to a clean energy future.
I’m telling you this so you understand where I’m coming from when I say: President Donald Trump and the federal government are enacting a plan that will make our state’s situation even worse. And not just for East Bay communities like mine that live along the refinery corridor — for everyone who calls California home.
Pollution implications
The Trump administration has commissioned the Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the San Francisco Bay, deepening a 13.2 mile stretch between Point Pinole and Martinez in order to accommodate larger oil tankers…
