Hello my name is
Michelle Paramo, I am a resident of Oxnard and I am a young adult
leader with the non-profit CAUSE and I’m speaking on the CARB
scoping plan. I traveled 400 miles from my EJ community of Oxnard
(attended the CARB meeting in-person with a group of 15 from CAUSE
but were not called on to comment in time) to speak at this meeting because under staff’s
proposal, we would keep all existing gas generators online and add
10 GW by 2045. More than 160 polluting gas plans are in EJ
communities like Oxnard which is a majority of all of
California’s polluting gas plants. We need CARB to create the
road to zero emissions for the health of both our people and our
planet. The reason why I care about this issue so much is because
my community of Oxnard is being negatively affected because it is
surrounded by fossil fuel plants and a port that continually
leeches heavy levels of diesel exhaust into our air. In the CARB
scoping plan I am asking the Board to make a plan for a full
phaseout of fossil fuels by 2045. We must end oil extraction by
2035, phase out oil refining by 2045 and decommission the gas
distribution system by 2045. Again, this is extremely important
because Frontline, EJ communities like Oxnard have a right to clean
air and healthy lungs. Please make the health of our communities
your top priority by making these changes to the Scoping Plan.
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