Submitted via email on Friday, April 2 2021
Senator Scott Wiener
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814
Re: SB 467 (Wiener/Limón) – Breast Cancer Action is in STRONG SUPPORT
Dear Senator Wiener:
Breast Cancer Action (BCAction) is strongly in support of SB 467 (Wiener/Limón). We believe the state of California must take immediate action to protect the health of communities located near active oil wells and refineries across California. Toxic exposure from fossil fuel infrastructure is harmful for children during vulnerable windows of development, for women who are currently in treatment for breast cancer, and for frontline neighborhoods, the majority of which are low-income communities of color that already have disproportionate health outcomes.
BCAction is a national education and activist organization founded in the Bay Area and we are writing to you on behalf of people living with and at risk of breast cancer. For three decades we have worked to establish systemic interventions that will address the root causes of the disease and produce broad public health benefits. BCAction has over 60,000 members across the U.S and 28,000 California members.
We are proud to join frontline communities across the state in strong support of SB 467 (Wiener/Limón). As proposed to be amended, SB 467 creates a phase-out of well stimulation treatments and neighborhood drilling while directing the California Geological Energy Management Division (CalGEM) to provide a pathway for workers to transition into oil and gas remediation jobs. We thank you for authoring this important and long overdue measure.
Despite being praised as an international climate leader, California has failed to take meaningful action on oil extraction in our communities. Oil companies use hundreds of chemical additives that may be known carcinogens and endocrine disruptors during the oil extraction process to drill, maintain, and clean their wells. These chemicals can increase the risk of developing breast cancer and have broader public health consequences, from poor air quality to contaminated water. These impacts are more often faced by communities of color, and compound the health impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
With an escalating public health and climate crisis, and the inevitable decline of fossil fuel production in California, SB 467 provides an intentional, thoughtful process to protect communities and workers. SB 467 focuses on the most dangerous forms of drilling first, and mandates that agencies make a plan for the transition of workers already vulnerable to employment fluctuations based on changes in the global market. The economic imperative to plan for an orderly transition, in conjunction with our state mandates to aggressively reduce greenhouse gas emissions, makes this the right time and the right way to plan for declining fossil fuel production in California.
Thank you for your work on this important proposal. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely:
Dr. Krystal Redman
Executive Director
Breast Cancer Action
krystal@bcaction.org