September 8, 2018

350.org: Governor Brown’s Oil Announcement is “Pure Theater”

San Francisco, CA — This morning, as 30,000 people prepared to march through the streets of San Francisco to call on politicians to end the use of fossil fuels, Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill to block the Trump Administration’s attempts to expand offshore oil drilling in California.

 

Brown has been coming under pressure for months from many of the organizations behind today’s massive Climate March because of his unwillingness to stop new oil and gas projects and phase out existing fossil fuel production in California.

 

350.org Co-Founder Bill McKibben reacted to Brown’s announcement:

 

“It looks like Brown wants to keep Trump from drilling California so he can do itself. Today’s announcement is incredibly ironic since Brown has refused every effort by hundreds of community groups to get him to slow the pace of new permits for oil wells.

 

350.org Executive Director May Boeve said:

 

“Today’s announcement is pure theater. The Governor says ‘not here, not now,’ but he’s permitted more than 20,000 new oil and gas wells up and down California during his tenure. That’s more like drilling ‘everywhere, all the time.’ The message from the 30,000 people marching in the streets of San Francisco today was clear: keep fossil fuels in the ground. We’re going to keep pushing the Governor throughout next week’s Global Climate Action Summit to to deliver something more than symbolic gestures.”

 

350.org is a part of the more than 800 member Brown’s Last Chance coalition that has been calling on Governor Brown to stop new oil and gas leases and develop a plan to phase out all fossil fuel production in California.

 

Today’s “Rise for Climate, Jobs and Justice” March in San Francisco was one of nearly 900 events in over 80 countries around the world. Crowd counters estimated that 30,000 people took part in the march in San Francisco, which is culminating in Civic Center where participants are painting the world’s largest street mural.

 

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Contact: Dani Heffernan, [email protected], +1 (305) 992-1544

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