Canary

The dominos are finally beginning to visibly fall for Big Oil on the Central Coast. Dinosaurs like the Phillips 66 refinery in Nipomo are on their last legs—thanks in part to massive environmental outcry over the projects proposed to keep them humming.  SLO County’s 2017 decision to deny P66 a rail spur extension on its Santa Maria Refinery property—due to residents’ concerns over the potential increase in oil-carrying rail cars and the hypothetical explosions that could have resulted—was the nail in the proverbial coffin...