CBE in Northern California Organizes for a Revitalized Oakland and a Greener Richmond
Communities for A Better Environment’s work in Northern California focuses on clean energy, food justice, and community resiliency efforts. Click one of the links below to jump to a specific section in this page:
- CBE Campaigns in Oakland
- Alliances in Oakland
- Aug 6 Chevron Refinery Explosion and Fire
- CBE Campaigns in Richmond
-CBE Fights for Healthier Communities in Oakland
Residents of East Oakland, near the Port of Oakland, contend with fumes, particulate matter (Click here for particulate matter research report) and noise from a heavy volume of diesel trucks and the other pollution sources that facilitate freight transport to and from the fifth busiest container port in the United States. Click here to view the summary of our East Oakland Diesel Truck Survey. Or view the full East Oakland Diesel Truck Survey.
East Oakland residents also experience high rates of poverty and unemployment, and lack of access to healthful food options. The concept, Cumulative Impacts, describes how these social elements, along with environmental pollution, combine to inflict long-term damage the health of residents (Click here to view our mapping study pinpointing the location of environmental health risks in East Oakland). CBE’s environmental health and justice work in East Oakland therefore promotes a variety of essential aspects of healthy community—access to clean air and the availability of quality, healthful food.
CBE campaigns and projects in Oakland
Cleaning Up and Greening Up
Throughout Oakland, empty and abandoned lots and homes are left unattended by property owners. Many of these sites become dumping grounds filled with litter and trash. They become environmental and public health hazards. Blight affects the environment, public safety, economy, local job creation and community development. The residents want the city to make its unused vacant lots available for community gardens and other green community projects.
Community Resiliency
CBE concentrates on building a more resilient community in Oakland. That means a community with the resources to rebound from such disasters as the economic downturn, an earthquake, or events linked to climate change, like heat waves. CBE is working with allies to develop a three-part Community Resilience Series.
Sowing Seeds Food Justice
The project is aimed at youth and families. The food system accounts for 17% of all fossil fuel use in the United States. Food may have to travel somewhere between 1,500 to 2,500 miles from the farm to the dinner plate. Diesel trucks and other freight transport create serious cardiovascular, respiratory, and other health risks in East Oakland. CBE joined with allies to conduct a food survey and is moving toward community gardens to supply local food. Consuming local food decreases the need for freight transport, and decreases the attendant health risks. Click here for our factsheet on food justice.
East Oakland Building Healthy Communities
CBE is also working to expand the number of full-service grocery stores available to the residents of East Oakland as part of the East Oakland Building Healthy Communities campaign. Building Healthy Communities looks to land use and zoning policies to increase the number of locally owned and community-based businesses that can be part of providing healthful food to East Oakland, and attract and support other good-neighbor companies to boost the local economy.
-Alliances in Oakland
Oakland Climate Action Coalition (OCAC)–CBE is member of the OCAC, which promotes collaborative work for local climate change solutions. CBE’s work is focused on implementing policies to combat climate change. These policy center around the issues of urban agriculture, water, freight transportation, waste, recycling and local energy projects within Oakland’s Energy and Climate Action Plan. The work with OCAC also fits into CBE’s broader goal of creating resilient communities through organizing.
Oakland Food Alliance—When the low-end grocery chain, Foods Co. (subsidiary of the Kroger Company) made plans to move into poor neighborhoods in East Oakland, CBE helped build a coalition around food justice. Concerned about the increased diesel traffic and the kind of food choices available, CBE organized to push for healthy food options for local residents, and worked with the United Food and Commercial Workers around local hiring policies.
-Chevron Refinery Explosion and Fire
Media contacts regarding the Richmond Chevron refinery explosion and fire contact:
- Greg Karras, Senior Scientist, 510-302-0430 ext 19
- Andres Soto, Richmond Community Organizer, 510-282-5363
(April 26, 2013) – “RICHMOND: Damaged part of Chevron refinery reopens for production.” KTVU Channel 2
(April 19, 2013) – Greg Karras’s testimony on dirty crude versus inherently safer technology at landmark federal hearing on Chevron’s 2012 Richmond refinery fire.
(April 16, 2013) – “Environmental group offers “toxic tour” of city.” Richmond Confidential
(April 16, 2013) – “Federal investigation blames Chevron for refinery fire.” Daily Democrat
(April 4, 2013) – “RICHMOND: Repairs at refinery complete.” KTVU Channel 2
(March 28, 2013) – “Chevron cuts bonus for CEO, other execs.” San Francisco Chronicle
(March 1, 2013) – “Refinery safety collaborative holds first Richmond forum.” Richmond Confidential
(February 20, 2013) – “Labor and environmental groups join forces on refinery issues.” Richmond Confidential
(February 12, 2013) – “Not In Our Backyard: Fighting Pollution in Richmond, Ca.” National Radio Project
(February 6, 2013) – “Environmentalists and unions band together to fight CEQA changes.” LA Times
(February 5, 2013) – “Three Government Committees Reject Current Plans to Widen 710 Between Long Beach and East LA.” LA.Streetsblog
(February 5, 2013) - “Phillips Refinery Seeks to Increase Tanker Traffic.” KQED
(February 1, 2013) – “Earnings report caps off week of mixed news for Chevron.” Richmond Confidential
(January 30, 2013) – ”RICHMOND: Chevron plans to put refinery at full production raises trust issues.” Greg Karras speaks to KTVU Channel 2 about Chevron’s long history of ignoring safety at its Richmond refinery. KTVU
(December 20, 2012) The Morning Mix: Senior Scientist, Greg Karras, speaks about the fight to safely rebuild portions of the Richmond Chevron refinery that were damaged in the Aug. 6, 2012 fire. KPFA
(Richmond, November 23, 2012) – “Chevron sidesteps call for cleaner tech.” Front page of the San Francisco Chronicle
(Richmond, November 9, 2012) – “Chevron says it will upgrade pipes.” San Francisco Chronicle
(Richmond, November 5, 2012) – “Overextended Cal OSHA challenged to keep track of Chevron refinery issues.” KTVU.com
(Richmond, November 4, 2012) – “SPECIAL REPORT: KTVU investigates past complaints filed against Chevron refinery.” Senior Scientist, Greg Karras, speaks to KTVU about the Aug 6 Chevron refinery fire. KTVU Channel 2
(Richmond, October 15, 2012) – “Chevron ignored risk in ’11, workers say.” San Francisco Chronicle. UCommunities for a Better Environmentnchecked corrosion… was responsible for another fire at the plant last year that prompted workers to complain to regulators that the company was ignoring the problem
(Richmond, September 25, 2012) – “Chevron says pipe low on key protectant.“ San Francisco Chronicle
(Richmond, September 24, 2012) – “Community Groups Lean on Richmond Refinery To Change Practices.” KCBS radio speaks at length with CBE Senior Scientist, Greg Karras, regarding the Chevron Richmond refinery fire investigation. Time index 14:42 begins Greg’s interview
(Richmond, September 12, 2012) – “Board: Chevron failed to check bad pipe.” San Francisco Chronicle
(Richmond, September 11, 2012) – “Air Quailty District hosts informative session on refinery fire.” Richmond Confidential
(Richmond, September 7, 2012) – “Too few state oil refinery-safety checks.” San Francisco Chronicle
(Richmond, August 27, 2012) – “Few concrete answers to the Chevron fire“ San Francisco Chronicle
(Richmond, August 24, 2012) – KTVU, Bay Area: CBE charges Chevron with knowledge of pipe corrosion issues (video). CBE senior staff researcher Greg Karras interviewed
(Richmond, August 20, 2012) – CBE Richmond Organizer Andrés Soto interviewed by KCBS, San Francisco: In Richmond, Chevron Hustles To Repair Refinery, Scrub Soot (video).
(Richmond, August 19, 2012) – “Refinery smoke blew past air monitors“ San Francisco Chronicle
(Richmond, August 15, 2012) – “Chevron fire ignited by idling rig?“ San Francisco Chronicle. Notes CBE’s role in participating in the investigation in the cause of the fire
(Richmond, August 8, 2012) – “Chevron Oil Refinery Fire in Richmond, California Forces Over 900 Residents to Hospitals.” Democracy Now. CBE Organizer, Andres Soto, speaks to Amy Goodman about the Richmond refinery fire
“Refinery warning worked-mostly.” San Francisco Chronicle. “It’s tantamount to a complete failure… Even for the people who got the calls, it was too late,” Andres Soto
“Chevron Refinery Fire:“ KQED Radio speaks to CBE Senior Scientist, Greg Karras, regarding the public health and safety implications of the 8/6 Chevron Refinery explosion and fire
Campaigns and Projects in Richmond
CBE Wins Victories for a Greener Richmond—Less Pollution, More Jobs!
CBE has worked to build a healthy Richmond for over 20 years. Just over 100,000 residents live in Richmond, the majority of them people of color. Richmond is known as an industrial town, and Chevron’s oil refinery is Richmond’s biggest industrial player—and California’s largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions.
Richmond residents suffer from high rates of asthma, cancer and heart disease. In June 2009 the Richmond Health Survey was released examining chemical exposures in Richmond and Bolinas. This research was made possible through a partnership between the Silent Spring Institute and CBE. This FAQ sheet outlines additional results of the research.
Chevron is the largest employer in town. However, as Richmond is saddled with an unemployment rate of 18% as of 2011, it’s not clear how many of those employed at the Chevron refinery are Richmond residents. We know that statewide, oil refining is a poor jobs creator. CBE research has shown that, compared with the statewide average for all business activity, oil refining creates ten times fewer jobs. View the our research here.
A CBE lawsuit, supported by community organizing, stopped plans in 2011 for a refinery expansion that would have enabled Chevron to process dirty crude oil. The expansion would have meant an annual increase of nearly a million tons of greenhouse gases and toxic emissions in local neighborhoods—but CBE defeated it with our allies at Asian Pacific Environmental Network, West County Toxics Coalition and Earthjustice.
Now in 2012, CBE has won a turning-point organizing victory in the fight for environmental justice in Richmond. CBE has led the campaign Less Pollution, More Jobs in Richmond. In the Fall of 2011, the Richmond Planning Commission unanimously passed our Less Pollution, More Jobs policy recommendations as part of Richmond’s newest General Plan.
The Less Pollution, More Jobs policy would require large industrial facili ties to use maximum energy efficiency for new projects (that includes expansions) and install the equipment that would permit the least emissions. Developers of major projects would have to offset new emissions locally.
That means any Chevron expansion would have to be vetted through local land use authority that would ideally ensure proper mitigation and local health benefits are secured for each project. And it means jobs: projects that replace aging equipment at existing facilities and rebuild with greener technology would generate more local employment.
Energy and Climate Action Plan
Despite the presence of the Chevron refinery–the largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter California–Richmond is still one of the first cities in the U.S. to include an Energy and Climate Change Element in its General Plan update. In 2009, the City of Richmond completed its first ever greenhouse gas emissions inventory. Based on the City of Richmond’s analysis of greenhouse gases inventory, we noticed that the city did not address reducing industrial and commercial sources of emissions, which comprised over 80% of the City’s total GHG emissions. CBE is working to reduce Chevron’s emissions and to spur investment into clean energy at the refinery. We are also pushing a Climate Action Plan that will encourage these emissions to be reduced locally.
Community Choice Energy
In 2011, a Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) motion was introduced by City Councilmember Tom Butt to conduct a feasibility study with Marin Energy Authority and City of Richmond consultants. CBE participated in the first community meetings on CCA and spoke at the Richmond City Council. CCA would build local renewable energy, local jobs, and strong energy efficient measures.