Following is a sampling of our work to date:
Youth Climate Strike Takes Over Downtown Los Angeles
In Depth: Amazon Fires – with Jack Eidt from SoCal 350, Atossa Sotani from Amazon Watch
Green New Deal Tour Comes to Los Angeles – EcoJustice Radio
Los Angeles Steps Up Transition Toward 100% Renewable Energy
Centennial Project: Suburbs Sprawl, Health & Environment Suffers – EcoJustice Radio
The Climate Crisis Demands Immediate Alternatives to Capitalism
Confronting Wildfire: Retrofit Communities, Not Forests
Rise for Climate Los Angeles: September 8, 2018
Amazon Oil, Biodiversity and Human Rights in “Yasuni Man”
Acjachemen Nation calls attention to nuclear waste – June 9, 2018
The Juaneno Band of Mission Indians, Acjachemen Nation and hundreds demonstrators gather to form their ancestral “Star Man” and the word “SAFETY?!” on San Onofre State Beach on June 9, 2018 in San Onofre, California. The human banner was meant to shed light on the decommissioning process of the nearby San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant which organizers say could have a devastating impact on Southern California and future genterations. The event was part of the Acjachemen Wisdom Day celebration. Photo by Lou Dematteis/UPI
Major Coalition Launches Website Calling for California’s Transition to 100% Clean Energy – March 21, 2018
Dozens of organizations unveiled a new website, CA100.org, dedicated to moving California’s power sector to 100 percent clean energy. To achieve that goal, the California 100% Clean Energy Coalition backs the current Senate Bill 100 to raise California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard to 60 percent and transition the state to 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2045. The new website showcases the broad support for the current SB 100 from hundreds of organizations, community groups, faith congregations, health associations, student leaders, local municipalities, and businesses across California.
Jerry Brown Passes Cap and Trade Written by the Oil Industry, RL Miller – July 23, 2017
California extended its Cap and Trade system until 2030, a symbolic move that actually allows grave concessions to the oil industry, ties the hands of local agencies ability to regulate greenhouse gases, and threatens both the state’s climate goals and the health of communities, ecosystems and the planet. RL Miller unveils the ugly political process where the Jerry Brown had the oil industry write the bill and forced the rest to go along.
People’s Climate March in LA Harbor Highlights Tesoro’s Dangerous Operations
Thousands marched on April 29th across the US and the world calling for solutions to the growing global climate crisis. In Los Angeles, thousands converged near a major petroleum refinery near two major ports in support of the nearby vulnerable communities calling for protections to their health and safety.
The Trump Resistance is Born: People Unite for a Better Tomorrow
Donald Trump became the 45th U.S. president, and a majority of people were not celebrating. Thousands across the country protested peacefully, with solidarity across multiple sectors of society — with only a few clashes with police in Washington DC — to voice their disapproval to the incoming administration. Following are a sampling of images from this historic event.
2017 Rose Parade: Up With the People, Down with the Pipeline
Southern California Standing Rock is Everywhere Water Protectors crashed the 2017 Rose Parade in Pasadena, and set the tone for a year of unity and peaceful confrontation for the sacred waters of Mother Earth, in the age of The Orange One.
#BANKEXIT RALLY: Jane Fonda Announces Divestment from WELLS FARGO at Hollywood Branch in Soldiarity with STANDING ROCK, Multiple Organizations – December 21, 2016
Joined by Dolores Huerta, Lily Tomlin, Chase Iron Eyes, Catherine Keener, Frances Fisher, Alexander Ebert, and Many Others to march, rally and demonstrate their solidarity with the people of Standing Rock in their ongoing battle against the pipeline.
Standing Rock is Everywhere: Los Angeles Unites Around Dakota Access
Water Cannons and Tear Gas: Army Corps Must Stop Dakota Access
No Dakota Access Pipeline – LA Organizations Join in Honor of Leonard Peltier’s Birthday, SoCal 350 – September 12, 2016
A National Day of Action called for President Obama to permanently stop construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline on political prisoner Leonard Peltier’s birthday.
No Dakota Access Pipeline – LA Indigenous, Climate, and Social Justice Organizations Hold Solidarity Rally, SoCal 350 – September 7, 2016
SoCal 350, in cooperation with AIMSoCal (American Indian Movement), INMLA (Idle No More Los Angeles), and other social justice groups, want to show solidarity with those fighting to protect their land and water from the Dakota Access Pipeline. A press conference, demonstration and prayer are planned at the Mid-City Los Angeles office of G4S.
‘A catastrophic oil train derailment in Oregon raises fears on Central Coast’ L.A. Times – July 14, 2016
Robin Abcarian: “The Mosier oil train fire burned for 15 hours. No one was hurt, but the town’s sewage treatment plant was inundated with 10,000 of the 42,000 gallons of spilled Bakken crude oil — a volatile, highly flammable mix. For days, toilets didn’t flush and showers didn’t work.”
Recapturing Our Air Pollution Agency from the Fossil Fuel Lobby
On May 14, 2016, thousands of people from across California came to Los Angeles to call for us to Break Free from Fossil Fuels. Jack Eidt argues the only way to do this is to reform our regulatory agencies recently captured by industry, in particular the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
Break Free Los Angeles – Action to End Neighborhood Drilling – May 14
On May 14, 2016 Californians will convene in Downtown L.A. for a mass action to stop oil and gas drilling in our neighborhoods. Los Angeles is home to the nation’s largest urban oil field in the United States—ground zero of California’s climate fight.
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, 2015, 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, 2015, 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, 2015, 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 22, 2015, 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, 2014, 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 Building Blocks Against Climate Change 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 1, 2014, 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, 2014, 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 were planned March 1-2, 2014, 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!
In Spring 2013, 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 17, 2013, 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 17, 2013, 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!”