Hi Dear Skyline Green Team, 

Thank you, for adding your voices to help bring forth this important decision, and environmental justice victory for all the people of Oakland!

Thank you, for coming out to the vigils on Saturday and on Monday, and to the council meeting. 

As you experienced it, the stakes were high and the rally was contentious, and grew even more so during the meeting. But we won!

Here’s the news!

Laurie’s talk at the rally on Saturday, June 25

http://www.ktvu.com/news/166685923-story

http://www.wsj.com/articles/oakland-officials-vote-to-ban-coal-handling-and-storage-at-new-shipping-terminal-1467106207

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/29/us/oakland-coal-transport-ban.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/oakland-coal-shipments_us_577204abe4b017b379f72d3c

http://www.sltrib.com/home/4054521-155/oakland-city-council-discusses-coal-ban

http://nocoalinoakland.info/

http://www.eastbaytimes.com/breaking-news/ci_30064002/happening-now-oakland-council-considering-ban-coal 

Laurie’s Speech Before the City Council Meeting

What a gorgeous day, let’s hear it for the organizers of this rally! Give them a big applause! 

I feel so much hope today, here w/ you, & here representing the voices of so many Oakland faith communities, including the dozens that are part of CIPL & the Sierra Club, in saying no to coal in Oakland …. You’re here, bec. you care about Oakland & your voice matters.   

Tonight, our City Council will vote a/ bringing coal into W. Oakland from Utah to export to Asia. I think if they asked us,  we’d tell them right away – NO! no more coal dust, no more asthma, no more cancer, no more climate change! 

The developers have gotten our city council to a pickle..

The developers claim that they’ll create a new, never before seen, clean coal operation that covers up the train cars & covers up the terminal, so no coal dust escapes.  

But the real cover up was the developers’ intentions to sell off access to our city’s waterfront to the highest bidder, regardless of their promise that coal wasn’t part of the plan.”    We’re not going to fall for it! . 

Come to the city council mtg tonight -make sure that they don’t fall for it either!

The good news.. our city councilman, Dan Kalb is recommending an item on the agenda that we can support – to ban coal in Oakland. Come & support him. 

We don’t need a coal terminal in Oakland .. why? because coal IS terminal – it’s terminal for human health, it’s terminal biologically, morally & economically. 

We’re all familiar with “the Golden Rule.” It’s a universal principal, an ethic of reciprocity that teaches: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” “Love your neighbor as yourself.” It teaches us to care about our neighbors.  Who doesn’t care about the kid down the street, in W. oakland breathing dirty air. 

As Flint MI, reminds us, environmental toxins particularly impact poor children of color, globally, & locally. W. Oakland has many parallels to Flint. (%90 black & Latino, where residents already experience high rates of poverty & unemployment. Imagine if this coal train were being routed through Piedmont or Montclair? 

 This is a local health issue. The children of W. Oakl& are already contending with fumes & noise from the heavy volume of diesel trucks & other pollution from the Port. We need to ask ourselves, what if it were our own children? 

This is a global health issue. We need to imagine the impact on children, not only W. Oakland, but in Asia, & in Utah. We need to imagine the impact on children of the next generation. Right now, accdg to WHA, 7 mill. people die every yr because air pollution. 

Our Governor & our mayor, spoke out in Paris at the Nov climate summit. They presented our city & our state as leaders in the environmental justice. They echoed the global scientific community’s unanimous pleas to leave 90% of fossil fuels in ground Speaking out in at Vatican, Jerry Brown clearly articulated that this is a moral issue. Why be complicit in prolonging, & accelerating this environmental & humanitarian disaster? 

It’s a  bad investment for Oakl&.   Renewables are the way of the future. … 

Oakl& deserves.. good energy, good jobs, clean air. 

We don’t need a coal terminal because coal is terminal  YOUR VOICE MATTERS COME TO CITY COUNCIL TONIGHT!