This past week marks the 50th anniversary of the disasterous 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill. Our CEO Mary Creasman penned an op-ed in Sunday’s Sacramento Bee calling our elected leaders into action to end oil drilling and prove we’ve learned our lesson from this tragic event:
“Last week marked 50 years since the most disastrous oil spill in California history. The Santa Barbara oil spill spewed three million gallons of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean beginning on Jan. 27, 1969, killing thousands of birds, fish and sea animals.
The spill produced a 35-mile long oil slick along the California coast, devastating coastal communities that rely on these beaches for their livelihoods.
Our state has not issued a new oil and gas lease off California’s coast since that day, and for good reason. The disaster showed us in the clearest possible way how much we have to lose when we open our oceans to the fossil fuel industry.”
Read the full piece in The Sacramento Bee and share it with your friends in remembrance of the 50th Anniversary.
