I’m writing to share my disgust about the pro-Phillips 66 signage in the Five Cities area. Basically the thrust of the signage message is “if the Planning Commission doesn’t approve the addition of rail tracks and the resulting horrendous delivery of volatile tar sands oil from Canada and its air-polluting refinement on the Nipomo Mesa, local jobs will be lost.”
Testimony before the Planning Commission last month proved that no current jobs are in danger and that only 12 permanent jobs will be added if the rail spur is approved! This is literally a smoke-and-mirrors ploy by a huge corporation to expand their polluting industry along the Central Coast and place thousands of locals in danger as oil trains traverse our landscape near our schools, homes, scenic areas, and tourist attractions.
We have far too much to lose if our planning commissioners, and eventually our Board of Supervisors members, fall for this ploy. We must protect our safety, quality of life, and our tourism jobs by keeping the Central Coast unique, clean, and free from oil trains. Phillips 66 and its employees can continue refinement of oils delivered via pipeline. Take your dirty work elsewhere. Save the Central Coast.
This article appears in Mar 3-10, 2016.