Long Delay on Refinery Pollution Shows Impact of Polluter-Friendly Politicians

By Mike Young, Political & Organizing Director, California Environmental Voters

Earlier this month, Southern California’s most powerful pollution regulator finally took desperately-needed action to limit the toxic emissions local oil refineries pump into our region’s air.  Community activists, environmental and health organizations have been pushing this new rule for years, knowing that requiring oil refineries to use best-available technologies to limit dangerous pollution is the single most important action the South Coast Air Quality Management District could take to improve the breathability of our air.

Requiring refineries to reduce smog is expected to save 370 lives, prevent 6,200 asthma attacks, and allow Southlanders to avoid 21,400 missed days of work.  Because the SCAQMD finally took action, a child born in Southern California today will have a greater chance of breathing asthma-free.  The sad news is a local kindergartener doesn’t have that same chance because oil interests and their allies on the SCAQMD board succeeded in stalling action for so long.

Five years ago, the SCAQMD board rejected a proposal to strengthen the agency’s pollution-reduction program, overruling the agency’s own staff who had warned that leaving loose regulations in place threatened public health in our 17-million person region.   Not until this week did the board finally overcome the stalling tactics of the oil industry to pass a meaningful limit on refinery pollution.

Leading the charge against stronger pollution protections over this time has been Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino.  Buscaino holds a unique position on the SCAQMD board, appointed to represent the City of Los Angeles, the largest jurisdiction in the multi-county region and the only city that has its own seat on the pollution control board.  He also stands out among the SCAQMD board for uniquely strong ties to the oil industry.

With politicians like Buscaino blocking tougher pollution rules, oil companies have been able to keep raking in profits by polluting, because lax rules made spoiling our air cheaper than installing equipment to control pollution.  Big oil has rewarded Buscaino and others who have used their position on the SCAQMD to maintain the status quo, directing thousands of dollars into campaign coffers. This month, we launched a website, FossilFuelFour.com, to document the influence of the oil industry on the politicians who exercise vast power over our air.

Last week, Buscaino and other industry-aligned SCAQMD members finally voted to clamp down on refinery pollution, but only after oil companies agreed to the new restrictions.  It’s telling that Buscaino looked to oil companies – not his own district – for direction on the vote. After all, Buscaino represents San Pedro, a neighborhood in the southern portion of the City of Los Angeles that is an epicenter of the need for environmental justice.  San Pedro is home to residents who are largely low-income and people of color, living in extremely close proximity to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and the largest oil refineries and storage facilities on the entire West Coast of North America. Just living in close proximity to these major sources of pollution increases the risk of cancer and asthma.

With Buscaino’s term on the SCAQMD ending in January, it’s clear his own community of San Pedro and the entire four-county region covered by the pollution board deserve better.  In the near future, the SCAQMD board will make critical decisions about the impact of port operations, massive warehouse operations, and other pollution sources on the health of 17 million people who call the South Coast region home.  Delaying action on controlling pollution means handing our children’s lungs over to polluters. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti must replace Buscaino with a representative who will put clean air and communities – not oil industry executives –  first.