sbrobert
By Robert Bernstein
Earth Day was back in a big way in Santa Barbara for the first time in four years, since 2019. Thousands turned out in Alameda Park to visit booths to learn environmental information from a wide range of organizations. There were also many vendors of food, sustainable clothing and other products.
Here are a few photos I took. And here are a few videos I made.
Actress Jane Fonda was the big highlight of Earth Day this year. She was giving out the Environmental Hero awards for the Community Environmental Council, sponsor of Earth Day since 1970. Fonda is on a speaking tour: Promoting the Big Oil Resistance Tour. At age 85 she is still going very strong, after a lifetime of work for peace, justice and the environment.
2018 Environmental Hero Florencia Ramirez introduced Fonda.
Here was her introductory message.
For many years Fonda owned and lived at Laurel Springs Ranch here at the top of Painted Cave Road. She and her then husband Tom Hayden ran a children’s camp there and I remember how open it all was to the public. I often took visitors there.
She continues to work on a wide range of issues, including reducing unwanted teen pregnancy. But her main focus at Earth Day was the Climate Crisis and all of the environmental and social issues that go with it, including Environmental Justice.
She talked about the 2015 oil pipeline break and oil spill here that spoiled coastal habitat and beaches. Which was totally preventable if not for the greed of the fossil fuel industry. They have paid a high price for their greed and focus on short term profits over safety and the environment. The local rigs have been shut down ever since, with the pipeline being shut down. Thanks to the efforts of local activists to pressure elected officials.
Fonda credited these local activists with blocking 750 oil wells in Cat Canyon near Santa Maria, fighting them one by one.
Fonda talked about the California Setback Bill, which would maintain a buffer between oil facilities and homes, schools, clinics and other sensitive sites. She said the oil industry is prepared to spend $100 million in this coming election year to defeat it.
But she noted that we have something they do not: People power.
Fonda moved on to introducing the Environmental Heroes for this year. She said she got to meet them through “Fire Drill Fridays”. A call to action because our house is on fire due to the Climate Crisis.
First up was Cesar Aguirre. He grew up in a family of migratory farm workers. From childhood he was immersed in community organizing. He went on to work to protect “fence line communities”. Communities that live immediately adjacent to the pollution and disruption of fracking and fossil fuel extraction.
Aguirre raised awareness of a situation with explosive levels of methane from leaks. Even without an explosion, leaking methane is a major contributor to the Climate Crisis. He worked with a number of organizations to provide a 2,200 foot buffer zone for fenceline communities.
He emphasized the need to educate the heart. Oil workers don’t want these facilities in their back yards, either.
Here was Fonda’s speech, along with Aguirre’s speech. Apologies for the poor video quality. The back lighting made it almost impossible to keep the video in focus.
Fonda then introduced the second 2023 Environmental Hero Nalleli Cobo. Cobo, 22, grew up in South Los Angeles and launched her activism as a 9-year-old after noticing foul smells emanating from the oil well across the street from her home. She suffered a series of illnesses she links to the well. At age 19 she was diagnosed with cancer. The resulting surgeries have made it impossible for her to have children. She was not able to attend the award ceremony in person due to an asthma attack she was enduring.
Instead, she spoke to us by video.
Cobo co-founded People not Pozos (oil wells), which aims to secure a safe and healthy neighborhood, and the South Central Youth Leadership Coalition, which focuses on environmental racism in the community. In March 2020, Nalleli’s tireless organizing culminated in the definitive closure of the AllenCo drilling site across the street from her childhood home. In addition, thanks to her work, AllenCo executives are facing over 24 criminal charges for environmental health and safety violations.
Here was Cobo’s message.
Fonda then offered her closing comments. She talked of the urgency of the Climate Crisis. It is here and we are already experiencing it. We don’t have much more time to stop dumping carbon in the atmosphere before the damage will be irreversible.
She warned of political candidates who take fossil fuel money. So-called “moderate” Democrats are guilty of this, along with the Republicans. We must send a clear message that we will not vote for people who take fossil fuel money. She encouraged young people to step up and run for office.
Fonda also has her own Climate PAC. Here were her final words.
Florencia Ramirez also delivered additional awards to these people.
Of course, John Palminteri was in the crowd!
When the award ceremony finished, there was a light interlude with this young capoeira group.
With so many booths, I can only give a small sample. The Sierra Club had one of the more amusing booths at Earth Day. Visitors could “decommission” the oil rigs in the Santa Barbara Channel by tossing bean bags at them. Thanks to our Santa Barbara Group Chair Jim Taylor for the idea and for making it all happen.
Here Jonathan Ullman (Director of the Sierra Club Santa Barbara-Ventura Chapter) and Group Executive Committee member Geordie Scully posed in Hazmat suits with the game. A reminder of the most recent oil spill here in 2015 that has shut down most local oil operations indefinitely.
Here I photographed the real thing at Ellwood in 2015:
Here some kids stepped up to play the game.
And this guy Kaj came close to winning.
Health Care for All has been tirelessly working for true universal healthcare in California since 1994, with Proposition 186. Defeated with torrents of false advertising money from the for-profit insurance industry.
Sam Furtner promotes sustainable transportation for the City of Santa Barbara as Mobility Coordinator. He showed me the bicycle routes and other bicycle facilities in the works.
I also spoke with a representative from Harvest Thermal about their heat pump systems. Their systems can provide both heat and hot water while using a fraction of the energy of a conventional electric or gas system. I first learned of heat pumps as a physics student in the 1970s. They seem to defy the laws of physics by delivering more heat than the energy that is put in.
They essentially run a refrigerator in reverse. Instead of creating heat, they move heat that is already in the environment to where it is needed. Surprisingly, the theoretical thermodynamic efficiency can be as high as 600% in heating hot water to 150 degrees, starting from the heat already in the water at 50 degrees.
I have been awaiting a practical heat pump system for all these decades and now it seems they are starting to arrive.
Remember: If we want to live sustainably, every day needs to be Earth Day!
Spenser is playing gigs?
Right on
Chico, yeah he’s still playing! There is a free show on the 20th that Spenser will play at the Lobero theater. Free to all. 3-8pm I’ll be there!
thanks for posting! My kids, dog and myself were there for both days. What a good time and one of the best earth day celebrations this town has had. Spent time with my friend Das, made some new friends, got to meet Jane Fonda, watched several GREAT bands including Spenser the Gardener. Several of my buddies from SBPD were present, chatting with people and watching the bands play. A good time for our community to come together. FYI, Jane may be old….but she crushed my hand when we shook hands LOL
Dogs consume vast resources and terrorize wildlife. The antithesis of what Earth Day stands for.
Goletadawn, please make sure you show up. I would love a face to face, open discussion with someone of your calibur. What I mean by that is, someone that is a brave arm chair solider like yourself. Someone that is pro earth day but loves to degrade and ridicule animals.
what a ridiculous, rude, obnoxious thing to say and honestly you’re so wrong. Dogs are part of nature. They are animals, part of nature, live in the wild and live in the communities, and they thrive in our community. Not that it matters, but my dogs are highly trained protection dogs, my main dog is a certified service animal and has SAR certification. In otherwords, she does more for humanity and our locals than you do.
hey GoldenDawn, there is a free concert on the 20th at the Lobero theater. Spenser will be playing. I’ll be there with my dogs. Why don’t you show up and tell my dog what you think!? I personally think that is a great idea. Let’s see how brave you are when you’re not hiding behind a computer screen running your mouth, and you’re out in society with the rest of us. It’ll be a good, open discussion.
so you think that an animals carbon footprint is greater than yours? you actually think that one animal out of hundreds of thousands of species is responsible for destruction? You’re 100% correct. You as a human have taken part in destroying this planet. Your dyes, colognes, shampoos, sprays, food wrappers, meat consumption, driving a car, throwing away non food waste. Yep all of that you do, but animals and dogs included, do not do. So yeah…your comment about consuming vast resources and terrorize wildlife. That must be yourself and other humans you’re talking about….still waiting …..
Dogs are like cars. Man made. They ARE the footprint created by humans.