Wilmington Residents Rally Against Proposition 23

More than one hundred Wilmington residents and concerned citizens from Los Angeles to the Bay Area gathered in East Wilmington Greenbelt Park on Thursday, October 14 for a rally and march against California's Proposition 23, which seeks to suspend California’s Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32). AB 32 requires that, by the beginning of 2011, local refineries such as Tesoro and Valero (two large financial supporters of Prop 23) must invest in cleaner production and uphold California’s strict environmental laws. There has been a lot of media attention surrounding Prop 23, whose supporters worry about rising fuel and energy costs, and whose opponents are more concerned with creating a greener California. The Wilmington community came together on Thursday to tell its side of the story, while demanding higher standards from Wilmington polluters and greener jobs.

Wilmington residents at the rally were largely concerned with how their health will continue to be negatively effected, should Prop 23 pass. With four oil refineries in Wilmington, and three more next door in Carson, residents continually make the link between air pollution and Wilmington’s high rate of asthma and cancer.

Speakers at the rally shared their personal stories of dealing such illnesses. Jasmine Cortez, a senior at Banning High School in Wilmington, spoke about her experiences as an active young adult with asthma. She mentioned how a large quantity of her classmates were taking night school to make up credits after missing so many classes due to their asthma and allergies. Mary Cervantes, who for 56 years has lived a mere block away from the Tesoro Oil Refinery, spoke about fighting stage-four cancer. She described the occasional refinery explosion, the dirty smells and terrible headaches she and her neighbors regularly experience living so close to the refinery.  “Before, you used to hear, ‘Oh, so-and-so has cancer,'" Cervantes said. "Now, it is everybody.”

Wilmington residents feel they are ignored as a community of color, and it was exciting to see our community be a voice for other communities of color seeking environmental justice. California State Assemblymember Warren Furutani spoke about the vibrant history of Wilmington, as one of the oldest communities in Los Angeles growing side-by-side with the Port of Los Angeles. Furutani highlighted the progressiveness of AB 32 as a model public policy for promoting a healthy environment. He ask that Tesoro and Valero “be good neighbors…where people can live and thrive."