SoCal 350 Climate Action formed as a coalition between over 100 groups in the Southern California region coming together to fight climate change at the Forward on Climate Rally and March in 2013. This was the first time such a wide array of environmental, humanitarian, religious, political, labor, civil rights, student, and community organizations came together in Los Angeles to demand action on climate change. Thereafter, the coalition decided to affiliate with the international climate change organization 350.org. Following are articles on who we are, how we came together, and what sort of work we do to empower communities in Southern California.
Students Travel Across California to Stop Tar Sands Oil Trains
High School student Malia Street writes about her classmates from the Port of LA High School who traveled 200 miles to speak out at the hearing and rally against a plan by Phillips 66 to ship volatile and toxic tar sands crude via rail into California. READ MORE…
Tar Sands Oil “Bomb” Trains Proposed for California
We must find cleaner, safer alternatives to these ecosystem-fouling, climate-disrupting extreme fossil fuels like tar sands and fracked oil shale, and their exploding oil trains, bursting pipelines, and accident-prone refineries. READ MORE…
Dire Ecological Consequences of the Porter Ranch Gas Leak
The ongoing ecological disaster has been “temporarily controlled” in Porter Ranch, California, an affluent Los Angeles suburb. Yet, families continue to get sick, and SoCalGas/Sempra wants to oversee the testing inside of homes. While the Regional Air Quality regulators requested they close the leaking well down, the AQMD failed to listen to community demands for a permanent shut down of Aliso Canyon Storage Facility. READ MORE…
Vision LA Climate Action Arts Fest: The Road Through Paris
Los Angeles came alive in November and December 2015, sponsored by SoCal 350 Climate Action, in calling for global climate agreements at the UN conference in Paris. This included the Global Climate March (Nov 29) at L.A. City Hall, the Vision L.A. Climate Action Arts Festival (Nov 30 to Dec 11), the California Nurses Association Climate Convergence (Dec 3) at Pershing Square, and Building Blocks Against Climate Change (Dec 12) along Wilshire Blvd. READ MORE…
Hundreds Rally in Los Angeles to Stop Oil Trains
On July 11, Los Angeles joined communities across North America to call for a halt to shipping volatile and toxic crude oil via unsafe rail cars, which has caused numerous derailment explosions during the last six years as the practice has increased 4,000%. In particular, activists call for the City of L.A. to protect their communities and $1.3 billion river revitalization by opposing a crude by rail expansion in San Luis Obispo, which they made a unanimous decision to end a letter on Sept 2nd.
Los Angeles: Stop Oil Trains Day of Action – July 11
The time for action against oil trains is now! On Saturday, July 11, SoCal 350 Climate Action and its regional partners rallied at L.A.’s Union Station and held a teach-in in front of Olvera Street, calling for an end to bringing exploding bomb trains loaded with tar sands and other volatile crude oils into our communities.
Coffee for Climate – Coffee, Art, Activism — Highland Café, NELA, June 13th
Coffee for Climate is a group benefiting local Climate Change Activism, bringing the community of coffee industry professionals together with Climate Change Activists, working to educate our communities and help save our environment. Upon learning about the impact Climate Change has already had and is expected to have on coffee growers and their local economies all over the world, Coffee Artist Mike Lanni partnered with So Cal 350 Climate Action Coalition to raise funds and awareness for the issue.
Gov. Brown: March for Real Climate Leadership on Feb 7th
SoCal 350 Climate Action Coalition and Californians from across the state gathered Feb 7 in Oakland — Governor Brown’s hometown — to demand real climate leadership in the face of the impending climate crisis and ongoing drought, with an unconventional oil boom that includes fracking, oil trains, and expanded refinery capacity.
‘Above All Else’: Fighting the Keystone XL in Texas – Jan 22 LA Screening
SoCal 350, Tar Sands Action SoCal, and WilderUtopia held a fundraiser screening of Above All Else in Pasadena, January 22nd, a documentary on the fight against the Keystone South. Reserve
Starhawk: Hope in the Time of Climate Change
As the December full moon approached and the winter solstice upcoming ~ Sun Dec 7 in LA, SoCal 350 participated in this empowering day with Starhawk and a conscious community collectively co-creating a vision of a just transition away from climate- and ecosystem-damaging fossil fuels and industrial agriculture to a sustainable permaculture-oriented new world!
Hundreds Demonstrate in LA to Support People’s Climate Mobilization
Hundreds of Southern Californians Demonstrated along Wilshire Boulevard in Solidarity with Historic People’s Climate Mobilization in New York City Demanding Immediate Action on Climate Crisis
People’s Climate Los Angeles – Sept 20 Demonstration
As world leaders gathered in New York City in September 2014 to confront climate change, Los Angeles joined the tens of thousands of people demanding they take action before it’s too late. People’s Climate Los Angeles — Building Blocks Against Climate Change happened on LA’s Wilshire Boulevard on September 20th, 1 pm to 5 pm.
Clean Energy: LA Councilman Pledges Serious Greenhouse Gas Cuts
L.A. City Councilman Paul Koretz wants the city to set new, higher goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, that would slash citywide emissions 80% from 1990 levels by 2050.
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Hands Across the Harbor: LA Residents Protest Dirty Fossil Fuels in Port and Beyond
On May 17, 2014, over 100 residents from across Los Angeles joined hands at Hands Across the Harbor in the Port of LA as part of the National Day of Action Against the Keystone XL Pipeline and Hands Across the Sand/Land. It was one of hundreds of synchronized events to raise awareness about the dangers of dirty fuels including tar sands and hydraulic fracturing or fracking, active threats to Harbor area residents.
Call to Action California: How to Solve the Climate Crisis
On March 1st, 2014, almost 1,000 people, supported by over 100 community organizations, marched through the streets of LA Harbor to launch the coast-to-coast Great March for Climate Action. To demonstrate the political will for a healthy planet, SoCal Climate Action Coalition 350 prioritized six urgent climate-change-focused requests of local, state and global level elected legislative decision makers.
One Thousand Launch National Climate March from the Port of LA
Launching March 1, 2014, from the Port of Los Angeles in Wilmington, one of the most fossil-fuel polluted communities in the country, the Great March for Climate Action Energizes Communities to Act on Climate Change.
Coast-to-Coast Climate March: Why Launch from LA Harbor?
The 3,000-mile Great March for Climate Action launched March 1st from the Los Angeles Harbor Area. Sherry Lear, San Pedro soccer mom, writes on the history of the community that has experienced debilitating effects from fossil fuel development, explaining why it’s a perfect place to march en masse for clean energy solutions.
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LA Launches the Great March for Climate Action
On Saturday, March 1, the SoCal Climate Action Coalition 350 and more than 100 regional partners rallied in the shadow of a Port of Los Angeles oil refinery, sending marchers on a 17.5-mile trek through the streets until they reached downtown Los Angeles. Read about it here. Hundreds of marchers then continued their journey for 3,000 miles towards Washington D.C., reaching out to everyday citizens along the way on how they can fight climate change in their daily lives.
XL Dissent: Activists Speak Out for Clean Energy, Mother Earth
While activists in Los Angeles and across the US spoke out against the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, Dave Pruett writes on its threatened environmental triple-whammy, poorly documented in the latest State Department environmental report heading toward the President’s desk. Protests are planned March 1-2 in Washington DC as part of “XL Dissent” and March 1 in Los Angeles with the Great March for Climate Action.
Valero Moves to Ship Tar Sands By Rail into LA Harbor
Valero Energy sought permits in 2013 for large-scale shipments of low-quality tar sands oil via rail into their Port of Los Angeles refinery, without any public comment or environmental review. As part of a larger move to transport climate-disrupting unconventional crude to ports for refining and export to the world, it presents dangers given recent rail accidents, the corrosive nature of tar sands bitumen, and the significant pollution that surrounding communities already live with. In the end, due to significant pressure from the community, including the SoCal 350 petition and marches, Valero abandoned the project.
Draw the Line on Tar Sands and Climate Change – Sept 21
SoCal Climate Action Coalition 350 and Tar Sands Action SoCal Joined with numerous community organization to Draw the Line Against Extreme Fossil Fuels on September 21st, 2013!
Keystone XL Activists Greet Obama in Santa Monica
As part of President Obama’s Summer 2013 fundraising trip to Southern California, a crowd of over 300 activists greeted him in Santa Monica, calling for action on climate change, foremost by rejecting the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.
Rep. Waxman To Deliver Forward on Climate LA Message to the President!
Recently, representatives from Forward on Climate Los Angeles visited Representative Henry Waxman (D – Los Angeles) to present a letter to President Obama calling for immediate action on climate change and the Keystone XL pipeline. Rep. Waxman, a warrior for the environment, promised to deliver the letter and fight for legislation to solve the climate crisis.
Media Resources: Forward on Climate Los Angeles
The Forward on Climate LA Solidarity March and Rally took place on February 17th, 2013, where more than 2,000 people supported by 101 Southern California organizations and businesses told Mr. Obama: “Solve the Climate Crisis, Take a stand, Mr. President!” Following is a media resource list from the event, including press, photography and videos. Let’s keep it moving forward to heal the climate and our planet!
Keystone XL Pipeline: 40 SoCal Groups Call for Environmental Rethink
The State Department in 2013 issued a flawed environmental review of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that ignores its far-reaching impacts on climate and our environment. Tar Sands Action Southern California prepared a commentary on behalf of 40 groups to be submitted to the State Department demanding a comprehensive reassessment of the significant and irreversible impacts on the environment not taken into account in the draft report released on March 1st.
Dear Mr. President, Let’s Move Forward on Climate
President Obama, we need an energy policy focused on efficiency and conservation, integrated with a clean, renewable energy plan – one that breaks our addiction to dirty and dangerous fuels such as Coal, Fracked Natural Gas, Nuclear and Tar Sands Oil.
Feb 17, 2013: Thousands March in Los Angeles on National Campaign Launch Demanding President Obama Take Immediate Action on Climate Crisis
Thousands of activists and supporters from across a wide coalition of over 90 groups, led by Tar Sands Action Southern California and Sierra Club, marched Feb 17th from Olvera Street and converged for a rally at City Hall where they unveiled a mega letter addressed to President Obama.
Forward on Climate: February 17th Rallies in DC and Los Angeles
On Sunday, February 17th, at 1 pm, in solidarity with the Washington DC “Forward on Climate” rally, join Tar Sands Action Southern California, Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign, and Food and Water Watch, along with many more other environmental organizations as they march in downtown Los Angeles to deliver a message – “Solve the Climate Crisis! Take a Stand Mr. President!”
Updated April 22, 2016