We are in the middle of the sixth mass extinction event, the first one to be human-induced through greenhouse gas emissions. The U.N. estimates that within the next few decades, the world could see hundreds of millions of climate refugees. 2021 was yet another one of the hottest years in recorded human history. And despite the increasingly obvious risk of climate catastrophe, there is still infrastructure being built and restored to support coal exports in California.
Sign the petition to oppose coal expasion in Humboldt County, California!
Devastatingly, a section of railway along the North Coast of California is being eyed for restoration just so it can transport polluting, dangerous coal through vulnerable ecosystems and communities.
Coal trains are not clean, and they pose dangerous threats to local communities. As on-the–ground organization No Coal in Humboldt points out, coal dust which spreads during transportation can severely threaten community health- leading to asthma, cardiac disease, prenatal risks, and perhaps most importantly, increased mortality from COVID-19. Worse yet, Humboldt County is also a disproportionately impoverished community, with a death rate 40% higher than the state average. Restoring this roadway to export coal would be a clear and obvious example of environmental injustice.
On top of the immediate health threats, coal is a dying industry that has contributed greatly to turning earth into a dying planet. We are on the verge of a climate crisis, and we should be investing the majority of our state and federal infrastructure dollars into sustainable and green alternatives. There is no reason the state of California should be spending money restoring a railway for coal exports. We need to be cutting our emissions, not expanding them.
Luckily, there is a bill that could block this from happening. SB 307 has cleared the Senate and has bipartisan support, so will hopefully pass in the Assembly. We must put pressure on the Assembly to ensure that it does get passed! Common sense policy -- which protects local communities and our entire climate- - should be supported by each and every legislator in California.
Sign now to demand that the California State Assembly approve Senate Bill 307, which stops funding for the railway restoration that would be used to export coal!
