By Information Press (a news outlet in San Luis Obispo County)  September 2016

http://www.informationpress.net/urgent-city-council-meetings-on-phillips-66-oil-by-rail-project/

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, September 19, 2016

Posted by Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineer and Trainmen

http://www.ble-t.org/pr/news/newsflash.asp?id=5885

The Association of American Railroads (AAR) petitioned the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) for a waiver that would allow freight trains to travel up to 2,600 miles between mandatory air brake inspections instead of the current industry standard of 1,500 miles.

By Cynthia Lambert, San Luis Obispo Tribune (March 11, 2016)

On March 11, after listening to more than 400 public speakers over four days on the controversial proposal, the San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission began deliberating  on Phillips 66 Co.’s plan to upgrade its refinery to receive Tar Sands crude oil by rail.  The ultimate destination after first minimally processing it in SLO County?  Rodeo.

But Planning Commissioner Jim Irving said Phillips 66 may not get a final decision on its project for five years because it may face challenges over both state and federal laws. “This is going to go from us to (county) supervisors, to the Coastal Commission, to the Supreme Court.”
Read more here: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/article65463482.html#storylink=cpy

On February 12th, California Emergency Management Agency posted on its website that the P66 Rodeo refinery released greater than 500 pounds of sulfur dioxide into our air due to an “equipment malfunction.”   Residents  learned about the release from the Dow Jones Busines News, the Wall Street Journal, and Nasdaq  …but nary a word from the refinery or from Contra Costa County Department of Emergency Services.

Both could have issued a health advisory, but did not.

The day before the article was posted, the refineries fenceline monitoring system was taken off-line. Three days after the article was posted, residents were startled by non-stop booms coming from the direction of the refinery.  The refinery dismissed the booms as coming from Air Liquid, not P66.  The Air Liquid plant provides the hydrogen for the P66 refining process and is completely surrounded by the P66 refinery operations in Rodeo.

One P66 supervisor took the prize for obfuscation when telling a concerned resident that Air Liquid was really a “renter”…

From Benicia down to San Luis Obispo, Californians are pushing back on Crude by Rail.   Two huge projects recently appeared in front of planning commissions this month:  San Louis Obispo County (Phillips 66) and the City of Bencia (Valero).  Both drew record-breaking crowds.  One project was defeated (Valero) and the other (Phillips 66) is well on its way to meet the same fate.

In both cases, State Attorney General Kamala Harris took the long view and weighed in against both crude-by-rail projects. At both hearings, hundreds of citizens signed up to speak. And in both cases, citizens from Crockett, Rodeo and Hercules were there “to represent.”

Just to give you a sense of scale of the opposition: At the Phillips 66 hearing in San Luis Obispo County, over 400 people filled out speaker cards.   That public hearing went on for two days and will wrap up on February 25th.   Although the folks here at C.R.U.D.E. don’t have a crystal ball, we reckon it has a snowball’s chance in Hell of passing as the San Luis Obispo County staff submitted a recommendation to turn it down…as did 26 cities, 20 school districts, 5 county/regional agencies and 2 local congresswomen.

And in Benicia?  After 3 days of hearings, that City’s planning commission took the courageous stand to stop the project, over the city staff’s objections.

Here are two articles describing the hearings:

1. An overview of the San Luis Obispo Phillips 66 hearing (this Tar Sands project is intricately tied into the expansion project up here in Rodeo) can be read here: Sunflower Alliance
2. Click here to read an article in the Huffington Post about Benicia’s decision about Valero’s refinery crude-by-rail project:  Huffington Post

By Sam Richards (Bay Area Newsgroup/Contra Costa Times)

A massive crude oil storage tank scheme and rail transfer facility in Pittsburg that would have serviced all the oil refineries in Northern California is officially dead in the water, thanks to local political resistance and dropping oil prices.

Read full story here

by Natasha Geiling (Climate Progress)

In the strongest city-supported opposition to fossil fuels in the country, the Portland Oregon city council voted last week to pass a resolution that opposes any new infrastructure that would transport or store fossil fuels within the city or its adjacent waterways.  While Portland can’t unilaterally ban fossil fuels from being shipped via rail, road, or water, While Portland cannot, due to interstate commerce laws, it can enact local laws that limit the transportation and storage of fossil fuels within the city itself, making it prohibitively expensive, or too time consuming, for fossil fuel companies.

Portland’s 350.org activist Andriana Voss-Andre observed:

“We seem to be reaching some sort of tipping point where people are waking up and realizing the enormity of the issue,”

She added, “That we got a unanimous vote was jaw-dropping.  It was an inspiring moment for all of us.”

Read the full story here.

By Anna Hirtenstein (Bloomberg Business)

The Swedish government recently announced that their aim is to become one of the world’s first nations to end its dependence on fossil fuels. They will be investing an extra 4.5 billion kronor (US$546 million) into renewable energy and climate change action in their 2016 budget.

Read full story here.

By Mychaylo Prystupa (National Observer)

The fossil fuel industry is clearly at a tipping point.   We are on the eve of the Paris Climate Talks.  One week ago President Obama killed the Keystone XL pipeline. Yesterday, Prime Minister Trudeau killed the Enbridge pipeline and set forth a plan to end subsidies for big oil.

Could this is the beginning of the end for the dirtiest crude oil on Earth?

Read full story here.

By Bill McKibbon (The New Yorker)

The denial of the KXL pipeline is just the beginning.  The fossil-fuel industry—which, for two centuries, underwrote our civilization and then became its greatest threat—has started to take serious hits, and here’s why.

Read the article here.