During our Get Out the Vote (GOTV) push, my volunteers and I surpassed 10,000 voter contacts, and together with my fellow organizers we contacted over 110,000 voters in California. I would love to quantify how many percentage points our efforts over the last two months garnered, but I think it's substantial. CREDO's "Stop Texas Oil" messaging and imagery were adopted by countless other groups, and became the most recognized of the campaign.
Oh the irony. . .
I was an outside agitator in California working to thwart Texas oil companies. I'm now an outside agitator in Texas working to thwart Canadian oil companies. I must admit that I didn't see this coming, but I'm very excited about it.
I was not so excited to leave Berkeley and come to Houston however. I had created a lovely little life for myself back in California and was just beginning to really enjoy it. The sad irony of it is that while I had no weekends off while there, here in Texas I have my evenings and weekends to myself like a normal person, but no one to share them with. Alas, such is the life of an intern.
My parents took me to Yosemite this past weekend which was absolutely fantastic and really helped me wind down. The short trip sparked my desire to take a lot of time off at some point and adventure through the Sierras.
Evening in Yosemite.
Morning in Houston.
I couldn't resist juxtaposing these two landscapes, both of which I viewed within the past 72 hours. I feel incredibly lucky to have visited both locations; the former being responsible for inspiring the modern environmental movement, and the latter being the heart of the industry that is drastically altering our planet's chemistry. The latter is such an economic powerhouse that it is lucrative for TransCanada, a Canadian tar sands company, to ship crude oil from Fort McMurray to Houston to be refined. This is what I am now trying to prevent - the contruction of the Keystone pipeline extension, known as the Keystone XL. It will pump 900,000 barrels per day (bpd) of tar sands oil to Gulf refineries, which will then be shipped primarily to the east coast and Asia. Effectively, it will open the international market to tar sands oil, and improve America's energy security.
Environmental justice and Texan swears
So, how do you stop a pipeline from being built towards the energy capital of the world? In all likelihood, we won't, but it would be cowardly not to try. It would also be unfair to the marginalized Latino communities that live along the Shipping Channel in Houston, who live in houses shadowed by smokestacks, and who experience significantly higher rates of cancer, heart disease, and asthma than those living in similar communities with higher air quality. We were given a "toxic tour" of refinery row today by Juan Parras, who has been fighting the environmental justice issues in his community for years. He's off to DC tomorrow to meet with the EPA's Lisa Jackson. He said that the industry execs wonder why they won't just leave, and as he pointed out a 1950s-era bungalow surrounded by refinery fences on three sides, he said, "because we were here first - if this were a caucasian community, there's no way the city would let this kind of development happen."
I've read and heard a lot about the environmental justice issues in refinery towns, and it's incredibly interesting to see it and speak to residents first hand. Obviously stopping the pipeline is primarily about stopping the global proliferation of tar sands oil use, but here in Texas the public health angle is the only angle that holds any sway with politicians. The words "environment" and "climate change" are practically swears down here, but Houston has the worst air quality of any city in the U.S., and violates the EPA's minimum standards for several criteria pollutants. Most recently, communities along the Shipping Channel were designated as non-attainment areas by the EPA for failing to meet EPA standards for ground-level ozone. Few politicians can say no to children with respiratory diseases, or pregnant mothers breathing in lead-laden air, so this is the way we must twist their arm.
Our role is to convince the Mayor Parker of Houston that the public health issue is significant enough to warrant a supplemental environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the pipeline extension. Our argument is that it would bring the most toxin-laden oil in the world to Houston refineries, and that further scrutiny of the plan is required to protect the health of Houston citizens. If a supplemental EIA is done, it will likely push construction back past the 2013 expiration date of TransCanada's permits and thus halt the pipeline. There are several other companies poised to build the connection should this one fall through, but as I eluded to before, admitting defeat means that you do not truly believe in the cause you are fighting for. If my country's ever going to intelligently handle tar sands development, the unbridled, unregulated petrochemical industry in the gulf needs to be wrangled.
Mallrats
To me, Houston feels like a giant mall that you have to drive through. There aren't even sidewalks most places. You drive your car to giant restaurants, giant stores, giant hospitals, and giant refinery complexes. I'm living in an extended stay hotel, and so this very much feels like a 4 week business trip. It's somewhat relaxing, although I anticipate an intense case of cabin fever soon. There is quite literally nowhere to run here in the Galleria on account of the freeways, and I would have to drive to the closest park. I spent this evening having dinner with the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign director and her partner, dogs, cats, and 2-year old (who was adorable and brilliant; he's learning English and Spanish and says everything in the former except for yes, which is always si instead); they promised me that there are some enjoyable parts to the city, and that they will show me around soon enough. As much as I'm out of my element, I am very glad that I am here. My perspective is ever-expanding.
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