Dear Board Members,
I ask you to assure that California's refineries do not source
their oil from new drilling the Amazon basin. Drilling for oil in
this region harms Indigenous communities, harms the biodiversity of
the region, and encourages further cutting of a forest that
captures carbon and filters air. The Bolsonaro administration has
engaged in human rights abuses of Indigenous people who live in the
Amazon, in order to promote the use of oil from the region, and the
best leverage we have to reduce human suffering of Indigenous
people in Brazil is to stop encouraging displacement and habitat
destruction.
I ask you also to formulate a detailed plan to phase out
California refineries' use of Amazon basin crude oil entirely--
currently almost half of the oil used in California comes from this
vulnerable region. You can do this in part by committing vehicles
used by the state to much stricter fuel efficiency standards and
transitioning the state's fleet of vehicles to entirely EVs. You
can also do this by shoring up public transit statewide. Gas prices
are high enough now that improving and promoting public transit has
some real opportunity to change commuters' habits.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Rachel Beck
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