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Health & Fitness

Benicia Stands up for Clean Energy as Oil Companies Get Dirty

Sometime later this month, a new group calling itself Californians for Affordable and Reliable Energy (CARE) will launch a campaign for a “statewide energy plan that considers both costs and reliability.” In fact, the group is the latest front of a multi-year effort by the oil companies to exempt themselves from the State’s clean energy laws. CARE will be managed by a Sacramento PR firm, feature stock photos of happy families and earnest workers, and rehash discredited arguments about how California can’t afford clean energy.

Meanwhile, real families across the state are standing up to keep California on the right path. On Saturday in Richmond thousands will rally at Chevron’s refinery to mark the one-year anniversary of the explosion that sent more than 15,000 Bay Area residents to hospitals, and endangered the lives of 19 workers. Then on <del>Thursday</del> sometime in the future (the meeting was canceled) in Benicia, hundreds are expected to attend a City hearing about whether to permit a new rail terminal that would allow the import of tar sands and other dirty crudes into Valero’s refinery.

Both events highlight concerns about health and safety risks associated with the shift toward lower-quality crude in the region. In Richmond, an investigation by the Chemical Safety Board showed that sulfur corrosion of a steel pipe caused the explosion. Residents are concerned that the increasing sulfur content of dirtier crude oil being processed by the refinery may have contributed to the problem.

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Meanwhile in Benicia, residents are concerned that Valero’s proposed rail facility could open the door to high-sulfur crudes including those from Canada’s tar sands. The facility will be the topic of a heated debate before that city’s Planning Commission on August 8, which has already created an enormous buzz with community members. Aside from increasing potential corrosion and accident risks such as those exposed by the Chevron Fire, research commissioned by the Natural Resources Defense Council shows that a significant shift to tar sands crude could increase air pollution emitted by the refinery as well.

It’s unfortunate that one year after the catastrophic Chevron Fire (not to mention tar sands pipeline spills in Arkansas, Minnesota and Kalamazoo), oil companies and their lobbyists in Sacramento are pushing to double down on dirtier, more dangerous products, when we have the tools to invest in cleaner, safer alternatives.

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