From engaging in door knocking campaigns to speaking at city council meetings, APEN’s youth leadership in Carson plays an important role in our strategy to hold Phillip’s 66 accountable for remediation of their Carson refinery.
Through our advocacy, we were able to pass a resolution to create a taskforce to engage residents, community members, and environmental experts on the refinery remediation process.
Today we hear directly from Jonathan Garcia, a youth leader and Carson resident, on the impact of living so close to the refinery and the future of APEN’s work in the South Bay Harbor Gateway.
Hi, my name is Jonathan and I’m a member of APEN LA. I’ve been a part of that community for about two years now. A lot of our work recently has been focused on Phillips 66 and the refinery closure.
To me that’s an issue that really hits home because I’ve lived near the major refinery complex in Carson my entire life.
There’s a lot of pollution, noise, costs, occasional explosions that come with having to live near oil infrastructure.
I didn’t realize I had asthma until my late high school years. A lot of my peers have breathing issues or cancer in their families.
Recently, we received political education around the war in Iran and the connections between our national reliance on fossil fuels and our military aggression abroad.
We discussed how the same fossil fuels that cause cancer, sickness, and death in our own neighborhoods drive resource wars and destruction overseas.
Destructive forever wars like the war in Iran will keep happening and fossil fuels will keep poisoning our communities unless we transition fully to renewable energy.
We want renewable energy investments in our people, schools, healthcare, and communities and that can only happen when we stop oil companies from squeezing as much profit as they can out of infrastructure, and declare bankruptcy leaving toxic sites that they refuse to clean up.
That’s why last year APEN LA mobilized and won a taskforce from the Carson City Council to oversee the Phillips 66 refinery closure.
This coming year, APEN LA will focus on working with Carson City Council and the Planning Commission to build up this taskforce, meet with LA Regional Water Board to understand the remediation process for refinery grounds, and expand our youth membership so we can have a say in the clean up process.
Please donate to our spring fundraiser so we can continue to do this crucial work in Carson and the South Bay Harbor.
In solidarity,
Jonathan Garcia
Youth Member, APEN Los Angeles
