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S2 E1 - Fueling Change - Oil Extraction in Alaska and California

WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

00:00:00.000
on this episode of earth focus we visit
00:00:03.740 00:00:03.750 oil-rich communities in California San
00:00:06.050 00:00:06.060 Joaquin Valley and along Alaska's Arctic
00:00:08.089 00:00:08.099 slope where residents are asking tough
00:00:10.820 00:00:10.830 questions about the consequences of
00:00:12.620 00:00:12.630 fossil fuel extraction it's been the
00:00:15.770 00:00:15.780 bedrock of their economic livelihoods
00:00:17.450 00:00:17.460 for decades but is now fracturing
00:00:19.910 00:00:19.920 communities and threatening the planet
00:00:26.510 00:00:26.520 [Music]
00:00:47.299 00:00:47.309 earth focus is made possible in part by
00:00:50.130 00:00:50.140 the Orange County Community Foundation
00:00:52.350 00:00:52.360 and the Fargo foundation
00:00:56.040 00:00:56.050 00:00:59.110 00:00:59.120 [Applause]
00:01:00.020 00:01:00.030 00:01:16.650 00:01:16.660 it was only fifty nine years ago that
00:01:19.330 00:01:19.340 Alaska was ratified as a state in the
00:01:21.280 00:01:21.290 United States of America many people
00:01:23.830 00:01:23.840 involved did not consider much what the
00:01:26.320 00:01:26.330 original owners of the land already had
00:01:28.600 00:01:28.610 and wanted to keep may God continue to
00:01:33.100 00:01:33.110 bless the nuclear people may God
00:01:35.680 00:01:35.690 continue to bless this land may God
00:01:38.260 00:01:38.270 continue to bless the sea from which
00:01:40.300 00:01:40.310 cometh all of our abundance and the
00:01:44.680 00:01:44.690 church said Arctic slope regional
00:01:51.910 00:01:51.920 corporation is a company that's tied to
00:01:54.580 00:01:54.590 the land claims that we were able to
00:01:56.290 00:01:56.300 achieve in the early days so let's go
00:01:59.710 00:01:59.720 into our boardroom we have our table
00:02:02.139 00:02:02.149 here which is made around the
00:02:04.800 00:02:04.810 traditional skin-boat that we use for
00:02:07.719 00:02:07.729 whaling it's a symbol of the principles
00:02:10.660 00:02:10.670 that we've taken from whaling as far as
00:02:12.610 00:02:12.620 the importance of working together to
00:02:14.140 00:02:14.150 achieve more for your people the Indian
00:02:18.640 00:02:18.650 people lived all across the Arctic slope
00:02:21.610 00:02:21.620 region of the state of Alaska following
00:02:24.340 00:02:24.350 the migration of the animals but the
00:02:27.250 00:02:27.260 whale was the center of our culture you
00:02:30.580 00:02:30.590 had Yankee whaling introduced into our
00:02:33.220 00:02:33.230 waters from about 1850 as we got into
00:02:39.009 00:02:39.019 contact of course
00:02:40.360 00:02:40.370 disease killed off a lot of our native
00:02:43.150 00:02:43.160 people yeah it was bad yeah it was
00:02:46.240 00:02:46.250 traumatic we need to get over it we need
00:02:48.670 00:02:48.680 to learn from it grow out of it and be
00:02:51.340 00:02:51.350 able to succeed oil was discovered in
00:02:56.229 00:02:56.239 1968 in our backyard
00:02:58.240 00:02:58.250 Prudhoe Bay the biggest oil discovery in
00:03:01.360 00:03:01.370 North America that was where my mom grew
00:03:04.600 00:03:04.610 up you go there now it's a whole oil
00:03:07.270 00:03:07.280 industry complex in late eighties the
00:03:13.080 00:03:13.090 trans-alaska pipeline was pumping about
00:03:15.729 00:03:15.739 25 percent of America's energy needs two
00:03:19.630 00:03:19.640 million barrels a day that has come down
00:03:22.240 00:03:22.250 to basically around 500,000 barrels a
00:03:25.150 00:03:25.160 day
00:03:25.440 00:03:25.450 and the demand across America continuing
00:03:28.800 00:03:28.810 to rise of course when oil was
00:03:32.640 00:03:32.650 discovered the federal government had to
00:03:34.620 00:03:34.630 settle the land claims we didn't want it
00:03:37.740 00:03:37.750 to be a welfare bill we had to remind
00:03:39.960 00:03:39.970 Congress were proud people that are
00:03:41.960 00:03:41.970 self-sustaining self-reliant and that we
00:03:46.559 00:03:46.569 want to keep it that way so they came up
00:03:49.920 00:03:49.930 with
00:03:50.100 00:03:50.110 thanks Alaska Native Claims Settlement
00:03:51.720 00:03:51.730 Act which is pretty unique
00:04:09.330 00:04:09.340 our portion was 5 million acres of land
00:04:12.449 00:04:12.459 to be selected and 22 million dollars to
00:04:16.289 00:04:16.299 start our businesses trying to select
00:04:20.759 00:04:20.769 those lands while we were being left out
00:04:23.730 00:04:23.740 of the most highly potential areas that
00:04:27.570 00:04:27.580 was the challenge it was almost like we
00:04:29.790 00:04:29.800 were set up to fail but we didn't I
00:04:34.820 00:04:34.830 guess there was some concern wondering
00:04:38.220 00:04:38.230 what a few savage Eskimos would do with
00:04:41.730 00:04:41.740 millions of dollars hey from the early
00:04:44.340 00:04:44.350 days of a right around 9 before we were
00:04:46.469 00:04:46.479 able to grow the company to about 225
00:04:49.350 00:04:49.360 million in revenue today were close to 3
00:04:53.370 00:04:53.380 billion in revenue we own two of the
00:04:55.590 00:04:55.600 refineries here in Alaska or the
00:04:57.750 00:04:57.760 construction government contracting
00:04:59.810 00:04:59.820 lately we've been expanding into the
00:05:02.550 00:05:02.560 lower 48 in order for us to grow
00:05:12.020 00:05:12.030 never shareholder base of about 13,000
00:05:14.450 00:05:14.460 which is the Inupiat people of the
00:05:16.310 00:05:16.320 Arctic slope and their descendants
00:05:18.700 00:05:18.710 shareholders received probably about
00:05:20.630 00:05:20.640 5,000 a year we didn't have running
00:05:23.300 00:05:23.310 water we didn't have the clinics the
00:05:25.880 00:05:25.890 fire stations the schools responsible
00:05:29.780 00:05:29.790 development maximizing the benefits to
00:05:32.270 00:05:32.280 our communities and our people had to be
00:05:35.180 00:05:35.190 in place it's one of the big finds in
00:05:38.960 00:05:38.970 the world oil and gas and as soon as I
00:05:43.550 00:05:43.560 heard that I said you know I love this
00:05:45.020 00:05:45.030 NY this is big stuff I love it so it's
00:05:48.830 00:05:48.840 great
00:05:50.110 00:05:50.120 00:06:01.940 00:06:01.950 00:06:05.649 00:06:05.659 Paco Rica is one of eight villages on
00:06:09.260 00:06:09.270 the North Slope it's a close-knit
00:06:13.279 00:06:13.289 community takes a lot of people working
00:06:15.740 00:06:15.750 together to make sure that we have a
00:06:17.960 00:06:17.970 successful whaling season and successful
00:06:20.240 00:06:20.250 harvests prior to the opening of the
00:06:27.469 00:06:27.479 coastal plain of the Arctic National
00:06:28.700 00:06:28.710 Wildlife Refuge any oil and gas
00:06:31.369 00:06:31.379 development or exploration was not
00:06:33.559 00:06:33.569 allowed now that it has been opened we
00:06:37.939 00:06:37.949 just want to make sure it's done right I
00:06:41.470 00:06:41.480 00:06:42.850 00:06:42.860 was charged by the jato bikini back
00:06:45.350 00:06:45.360 corporation to take charge lobbying for
00:06:47.659 00:06:47.669 the opening of the coastal plain of our
00:06:49.430 00:06:49.440 National Wildlife Refuge but they do
00:06:52.129 00:06:52.139 have a number of folks who are opposed
00:06:54.439 00:06:54.449 to it
00:06:57.890 00:06:57.900 two years ago city did a poll and we
00:07:02.460 00:07:02.470 were pretty much split in half you'll
00:07:07.170 00:07:07.180 have people that hate your guts because
00:07:09.360 00:07:09.370 you're saying no growing up I wanted it
00:07:12.960 00:07:12.970 and then when I get to my age I'm
00:07:14.790 00:07:14.800 against it the main concern is the
00:07:17.880 00:07:17.890 animals where they live we need the
00:07:20.460 00:07:20.470 baseline study for that when you're
00:07:23.220 00:07:23.230 walking just keep an extra eye out or
00:07:25.110 00:07:25.120 make sure there's no bears around we
00:07:27.090 00:07:27.100 share this special place with them we
00:07:35.760 00:07:35.770 get a lot of refuge visitors for polar
00:07:37.620 00:07:37.630 bear be.we and the numbers have been
00:07:40.050 00:07:40.060 increasing every year I'm guiding to see
00:07:46.530 00:07:46.540 polar bears and I realize that the polar
00:07:48.930 00:07:48.940 bears are in abundance here on the shore
00:07:50.790 00:07:50.800 because their habitat has gone away
00:07:52.320 00:07:52.330 because the world has been burning too
00:07:54.570 00:07:54.580 much fossil fuel its climate change is
00:07:56.670 00:07:56.680 happening well this time of year they
00:08:00.750 00:08:00.760 should be out on the ice
00:08:02.220 00:08:02.230 feeding seals that ice is not there for
00:08:06.030 00:08:06.040 them I've seen them eating young caribou
00:08:08.370 00:08:08.380 on the beach
00:08:11.040 00:08:11.050 you're gonna have to learn to adapt I
00:08:13.200 00:08:13.210 guess we have to learn to adapt to got a
00:08:15.720 00:08:15.730 change we have to change folks tend to
00:08:24.420 00:08:24.430 try to tie the climate change directly
00:08:27.750 00:08:27.760 to the oil and gas industry they say
00:08:30.750 00:08:30.760 that because a lot of people are
00:08:33.030 00:08:33.040 polluting the air hundreds of miles away
00:08:35.970 00:08:35.980 from us Isis not there anymore but we're
00:08:40.290 00:08:40.300 the ones sitting in the front row with
00:08:42.060 00:08:42.070 them back of the ice melting away
00:08:48.199 00:08:48.209 we're seeing earlier thaws and we're
00:08:52.079 00:08:52.089 seeing later freeze ups why is our leg
00:08:55.650 00:08:55.660 being eroded away there's no I used to
00:08:58.799 00:08:58.809 stop the impact of the huge storms that
00:09:01.859 00:09:01.869 come crashing into our lab the chunk
00:09:04.379 00:09:04.389 size of this building sometimes you have
00:09:06.319 00:09:06.329 f-from just break off having it rain
00:09:09.389 00:09:09.399 during the middle of the winter season
00:09:11.249 00:09:11.259 take care we can't get through the ice
00:09:12.900 00:09:12.910 to get to their food folks were piling
00:09:15.569 00:09:15.579 caribou carcasses by the hundreds we're
00:09:24.359 00:09:24.369 reminded by our elders that the same
00:09:27.030 00:09:27.040 principles that we use in whaling you
00:09:29.009 00:09:29.019 apply that same principle in everything
00:09:30.960 00:09:30.970 that you do working together
00:09:32.849 00:09:32.859 whether it's business government our
00:09:35.639 00:09:35.649 culture these pieces of baleen on the
00:09:41.009 00:09:41.019 higher wall here represents the eight
00:09:44.429 00:09:44.439 communities throughout the Arctic slope
00:09:46.799 00:09:46.809 we formed what we call the voice of the
00:09:50.009 00:09:50.019 Arctic Inupiat it basically takes all
00:09:52.169 00:09:52.179 the leadership from all the
00:09:53.220 00:09:53.230 organization's across the slope to go in
00:09:56.039 00:09:56.049 one voice
00:09:59.980 00:09:59.990 circe tries to present that they are the
00:10:02.900 00:10:02.910 voice of the people but they are not it
00:10:04.970 00:10:04.980 is a for-profit corporation that is in
00:10:07.700 00:10:07.710 joint venture with the oil industry at
00:10:10.490 00:10:10.500 this moment on the western side they all
00:10:13.940 00:10:13.950 want development they want to care in
00:10:16.250 00:10:16.260 our land because they want to serve
00:10:18.230 00:10:18.240 their own hunting grounds we always like
00:10:22.070 00:10:22.080 to represent ourselves but they
00:10:23.600 00:10:23.610 represent us but they don't live here
00:10:31.440 00:10:31.450 all the oil companies they said they
00:10:33.570 00:10:33.580 need to drill in just this little area
00:10:35.460 00:10:35.470 but then while they're doing that Delta
00:10:38.310 00:10:38.320 all we need a permit for this one over
00:10:40.470 00:10:40.480 here we need a permit for that one over
00:10:43.020 00:10:43.030 here they're going to spiderweb all over
00:10:45.810 00:10:45.820 and look for that oil and if they find
00:10:49.230 00:10:49.240 it they're gonna extract we as a new bid
00:10:53.730 00:10:53.740 people considered ourselves the first
00:10:56.100 00:10:56.110 conservationists but with the right
00:10:58.080 00:10:58.090 balance we believe it can be done in a
00:11:00.750 00:11:00.760 way that it doesn't harm the migration
00:11:02.820 00:11:02.830 of the caribou shell came in here my
00:11:07.140 00:11:07.150 question was if there's a earthquake
00:11:08.850 00:11:08.860 what this year earthquake plan the lady
00:11:12.720 00:11:12.730 laughed at me then right after they had
00:11:15.210 00:11:15.220 that meeting you had that big wall spill
00:11:17.310 00:11:17.320 in the cup of mixing the whole community
00:11:20.670 00:11:20.680 watch it if they did that out here we'd
00:11:23.610 00:11:23.620 beat screwed real bad
00:11:29.270 00:11:29.280 what are they gonna do if they have an
00:11:31.920 00:11:31.930 oil spill be all everywhere our fish
00:11:35.960 00:11:35.970 whales seals we won't be able to get our
00:11:40.170 00:11:40.180 food
00:11:45.259 00:11:45.269 when they talk about developing the
00:11:47.239 00:11:47.249 10:02 who's gonna benefit is there other
00:11:50.389 00:11:50.399 oil available that's more easily
00:11:52.609 00:11:52.619 accessible and should we look into
00:11:55.340 00:11:55.350 alternative clean energy
00:12:00.160 00:12:00.170 life is a lot easier nowadays and it was
00:12:04.010 00:12:04.020 before any of that development occurred
00:12:06.820 00:12:06.830 we have some folks to life you have gone
00:12:09.710 00:12:09.720 through starvation they do not want to
00:12:13.640 00:12:13.650 see that ever occur again in our
00:12:15.500 00:12:15.510 communities these gravel roads the power
00:12:19.370 00:12:19.380 lines the houses that are built pretty
00:12:22.670 00:12:22.680 much every infrastructure that you see
00:12:25.100 00:12:25.110 here has come from taxing the oil
00:12:27.140 00:12:27.150 industry we're being asked to keep the
00:12:31.040 00:12:31.050 oil in the ground in our backyard
00:12:33.220 00:12:33.230 sacrifice our Economic Opportunity to
00:12:36.320 00:12:36.330 save the world never mind what it takes
00:12:39.440 00:12:39.450 to run the schools the power plants the
00:12:43.430 00:12:43.440 basic infrastructure that we need
00:12:44.710 00:12:44.720 ultimately about we investors that then
00:12:47.870 00:12:47.880 look at it and say can we make money on
00:12:49.370 00:12:49.380 it more money doing clean energy the
00:12:52.930 00:12:52.940 environmentalists have tried to use
00:12:55.400 00:12:55.410 local people to split us apart the folks
00:12:59.330 00:12:59.340 that are against development of locals
00:13:02.150 00:13:02.160 are under here call them tree huggers
00:13:03.530 00:13:03.540 and stuff the people who recall trigger
00:13:06.290 00:13:06.300 hurts
00:13:06.710 00:13:06.720 I glued myself net we have a care for
00:13:08.720 00:13:08.730 the environment you can ask a local
00:13:11.840 00:13:11.850 native politicians is this compatible
00:13:14.090 00:13:14.100 with your traditional beliefs to put a
00:13:16.010 00:13:16.020 product in turn atmosphere that's
00:13:17.420 00:13:17.430 harmful to the animals to the people we
00:13:20.630 00:13:20.640 live here and we have to deal with these
00:13:22.550 00:13:22.560 issues that come before us we're stuck
00:13:26.450 00:13:26.460 in the middle of two sides well a gas
00:13:29.360 00:13:29.370 development and Environmental Protection
00:13:33.330 00:13:33.340 a debate over the moral cultural and
00:13:39.390 00:13:39.400 economic consequences of oil extraction
00:13:41.490 00:13:41.500 is also underway in both Arvind and Taft
00:13:44.220 00:13:44.230 California just a few hours north of Los
00:13:46.980 00:13:46.990 Angeles mayor pleasure to meet you again
00:14:00.000 00:14:00.010 sir grab a seat here once again welcome
00:14:06.960 00:14:06.970 to the city of Taft glad you have you
00:14:09.630 00:14:09.640 over here if people truly understand
00:14:16.740 00:14:16.750 what the petrochemical industry does
00:14:19.500 00:14:19.510 what petroleum does for them day in and
00:14:21.870 00:14:21.880 day out every single day it would just
00:14:24.660 00:14:24.670 absolutely blow up some of the
00:14:26.970 00:14:26.980 misconceptions just simply take a look
00:14:30.090 00:14:30.100 around if you're sitting in your living
00:14:31.680 00:14:31.690 room and you're comfortable where you
00:14:33.090 00:14:33.100 are what are you wearing are you wearing
00:14:35.250 00:14:35.260 just wool and cotton are you wearing
00:14:37.650 00:14:37.660 polyesters and nylons and rayons the oil
00:14:41.520 00:14:41.530 and gas industry and the petrochemical
00:14:43.440 00:14:43.450 industry create so many benefits and all
00:14:48.390 00:14:48.400 of these things that impact quality of
00:14:50.340 00:14:50.350 life are things that people are taking
00:14:52.350 00:14:52.360 for granted they are essentially putting
00:14:56.370 00:14:56.380 their heads in the sand and saying we're
00:14:58.710 00:14:58.720 gonna drill baby drill until we can't
00:15:00.840 00:15:00.850 drill no more either by an act of God or
00:15:02.640 00:15:02.650 because the enact of government and I
00:15:04.829 00:15:04.839 think that's irresponsible the quality
00:15:07.770 00:15:07.780 of life in the United States of America
00:15:09.540 00:15:09.550 the state of California the globe is
00:15:11.490 00:15:11.500 going to be the marriage and the
00:15:14.280 00:15:14.290 efficient use of all of our available
00:15:17.030 00:15:17.040 technologies but if we learn and we're
00:15:19.949 00:15:19.959 open with each other as different
00:15:21.860 00:15:21.870 industries then we can benefit across
00:15:24.480 00:15:24.490 the board and that is how we all will
00:15:28.500 00:15:28.510 deliver the best quality of life
00:15:30.620 00:15:30.630 generations from now
00:15:36.780 00:15:36.790 I was asked by some civic leaders if I
00:15:40.290 00:15:40.300 would consider surveying the people of
00:15:42.120 00:15:42.130 the city of Taft because in government
00:15:44.580 00:15:44.590 we need business sense and Here I am I
00:15:48.840 00:15:48.850 was elected to office and I've been
00:15:51.660 00:15:51.670 reelected three times I do this for free
00:15:56.910 00:15:56.920 I refuse to take any wages or any
00:15:59.070 00:15:59.080 benefits but I take a great deal of
00:16:01.500 00:16:01.510 pride in it and I raised my family as
00:16:03.720 00:16:03.730 community my employees live in this
00:16:06.720 00:16:06.730 community I owned a crane and trucking
00:16:10.500 00:16:10.510 company and I actually began my all
00:16:13.140 00:16:13.150 field career as a roustabout which is a
00:16:15.060 00:16:15.070 very beginner in an oil field bottom of
00:16:18.690 00:16:18.700 the totem pole
00:16:19.440 00:16:19.450 and I worked my way up Taft
00:16:22.590 00:16:22.600 actually began as a whistle-stop on a
00:16:25.290 00:16:25.300 railroad simply so that the railroad
00:16:27.570 00:16:27.580 could deliver the consumable goods to
00:16:29.460 00:16:29.470 help in the development of the
00:16:30.540 00:16:30.550 burgeoning oil and gas industry and many
00:16:33.930 00:16:33.940 many generations of people have grown up
00:16:35.610 00:16:35.620 in the city of tapped not just working
00:16:38.610 00:16:38.620 in the industry itself but support from
00:16:41.220 00:16:41.230 the benefits of the industry as well we
00:16:45.270 00:16:45.280 are surrounded by tens of thousands of
00:16:48.630 00:16:48.640 oil and gas wells we understand the
00:16:51.330 00:16:51.340 benefits of the industry we understand
00:16:53.220 00:16:53.230 the strategic importance of the United
00:16:55.380 00:16:55.390 States of America being energy
00:16:57.000 00:16:57.010 independent and we take great pride in
00:16:59.850 00:16:59.860 being a part of that Kern County at one
00:17:02.490 00:17:02.500 point time was the largest oil and gas
00:17:04.470 00:17:04.480 producing county in the continental
00:17:06.420 00:17:06.430 United States so the industry itself
00:17:09.329 00:17:09.339 that is who we are that is the legacy of
00:17:11.850 00:17:11.860 this portion of San Joaquin Valley
00:17:16.910 00:17:16.920 arvin making a bit of history today
00:17:19.140 00:17:19.150 becoming one of the smallest cities to
00:17:21.720 00:17:21.730 make their own local regulations for the
00:17:24.270 00:17:24.280 oil and gas industry oil and gas has
00:17:26.579 00:17:26.589 kept Kern County moving for decades now
00:17:29.250 00:17:29.260 in arvin residents are fed up and those
00:17:31.440 00:17:31.450 in the industry feel unwelcomed
00:17:33.390 00:17:33.400 Wednesday night arvin City Council
00:17:35.580 00:17:35.590 unanimously voted in favor of
00:17:37.110 00:17:37.120 restrictions on the oil and gas industry
00:17:39.750 00:17:39.760 those in support applauded
00:17:48.789 00:17:48.799 yeah so it's a monument testing that we
00:17:51.470 00:17:51.480 did we passed the oil and gas ordinance
00:17:53.389 00:17:53.399 and hopefully other cities with that
00:17:55.460 00:17:55.470 type of industry will follow so we're
00:17:58.369 00:17:58.379 gonna be talking today with some
00:17:59.779 00:17:59.789 neighbors on us in court and then
00:18:01.610 00:18:01.620 tomorrow I'm gonna have a conversation
00:18:02.600 00:18:02.610 with the mayor of Taft about our two
00:18:05.539 00:18:05.549 cities see if we can find any common
00:18:07.340 00:18:07.350 ground my name is Jose goo Rolla and I
00:18:10.789 00:18:10.799 am the mayor the city of Ardath you
00:18:13.070 00:18:13.080 can't deny the fact that living and
00:18:14.899 00:18:14.909 being next to in oil and gas operations
00:18:17.080 00:18:17.090 that emits emissions and that those
00:18:20.389 00:18:20.399 emissions can cause harm to health and
00:18:22.450 00:18:22.460 fossil fuel extraction and production
00:18:24.919 00:18:24.929 and consumption is a big part of the
00:18:27.379 00:18:27.389 pollution here in the valley and
00:18:28.609 00:18:28.619 worldwide
00:18:37.389 00:18:37.399 agriculture is the base economy here in
00:18:39.830 00:18:39.840 the city of Arvin now it's a primarily
00:18:42.019 00:18:42.029 Hispanic community over ninety-five
00:18:44.060 00:18:44.070 percent it is a very young city
00:18:46.479 00:18:46.489 surprisingly over sixty percent of the
00:18:49.430 00:18:49.440 population is under the age of thirty
00:18:51.049 00:18:51.059 and so when you look at my age and look
00:18:53.539 00:18:53.549 at other young people on the city
00:18:55.070 00:18:55.080 council you realize that we're actually
00:18:57.680 00:18:57.690 very representative of the city as a
00:18:59.869 00:18:59.879 whole
00:19:00.469 00:19:00.479 all right see you guys later essentially
00:19:04.700 00:19:04.710 what the oil and gas ordinance that we
00:19:06.799 00:19:06.809 adopted is it creates a set back and
00:19:09.799 00:19:09.809 what that means is no new oil
00:19:12.560 00:19:12.570 development can occur within 300 feet of
00:19:14.509 00:19:14.519 sensitive uses homes schools parks
00:19:17.359 00:19:17.369 hospitals my position was not to stick
00:19:21.320 00:19:21.330 it to oil workers or because I'm against
00:19:23.180 00:19:23.190 the oil industry it's because I want to
00:19:25.009 00:19:25.019 protect the health and safety of my
00:19:26.089 00:19:26.099 community that's why I support the
00:19:27.919 00:19:27.929 ordinance because I believe it's
00:19:29.749 00:19:29.759 imperative that we take this action for
00:19:31.820 00:19:31.830 the sake of our economy for the sake of
00:19:33.739 00:19:33.749 the our future Arvin has one step closer
00:19:36.079 00:19:36.089 to imposing new regulations on oil and
00:19:38.389 00:19:38.399 gas production in the city limits this
00:19:40.879 00:19:40.889 all comes after Mayor Jose Corolla
00:19:43.070 00:19:43.080 visited the State Capitol to talk about
00:19:45.739 00:19:45.749 an idea of eliminating oil and gas
00:19:47.930 00:19:47.940 altogether it hurts me to think that
00:19:50.829 00:19:50.839 somehow someway we have drawn a line in
00:19:53.299 00:19:53.309 the sand that says we're either going to
00:19:55.549 00:19:55.559 continue as society based on renewable
00:19:57.919 00:19:57.929 energy and abandon all oil and gas or we
00:20:01.039 00:20:01.049 will continue with the oil and gas and
00:20:02.629 00:20:02.639 abandon the benefits of renewable I
00:20:05.570 00:20:05.580 would truly like to sit down and speak
00:20:07.399 00:20:07.409 with him regarding his opinion how he
00:20:09.589 00:20:09.599 came by that opinion but by the same
00:20:12.469 00:20:12.479 token not just he but everybody he
00:20:15.649 00:20:15.659 represents everybody that elected him
00:20:18.139 00:20:18.149 and everybody who lives around him still
00:20:20.989 00:20:20.999 every day benefit from the oil and gas
00:20:24.049 00:20:24.059 industry
00:20:26.800 00:20:26.810 so this is nelson court my house is over
00:20:30.890 00:20:30.900 there
00:20:31.370 00:20:31.380 Alma's is over there but over here this
00:20:35.210 00:20:35.220 is all nelson court everybody on this
00:20:36.650 00:20:36.660 side of the street was evacuated and all
00:20:40.070 00:20:40.080 yo operations that was the source of the
00:20:41.750 00:20:41.760 gas leak is this operation over here you
00:20:46.340 00:20:46.350 know you have homes right here and then
00:20:48.830 00:20:48.840 you have within a couple hundred feet
00:20:50.770 00:20:50.780 you have oil operations a mantra that we
00:20:55.730 00:20:55.740 place here it's been here for about
00:20:58.220 00:20:58.230 eight months now and so it was developed
00:21:00.410 00:21:00.420 from the communities you know
00:21:01.400 00:21:01.410 perspective and so right away you see
00:21:03.680 00:21:03.690 the pump jack just a lemon throws away
00:21:05.750 00:21:05.760 literally from the house and then right
00:21:08.810 00:21:08.820 behind you man on this side is is the
00:21:10.880 00:21:10.890 tank we've seen this tank in past years
00:21:15.260 00:21:15.270 you know releasing VOCs into the air
00:21:29.460 00:21:29.470 and so we go monitor to monitor the
00:21:31.950 00:21:31.960 eight monitors that we have here in
00:21:33.180 00:21:33.190 Arvin and we and this the the story is
00:21:35.610 00:21:35.620 the same you know the background levels
00:21:37.350 00:21:37.360 in this community are sky high
00:21:39.899 00:21:39.909 you know we see fence line oil and gas
00:21:42.629 00:21:42.639 operations like this around communities
00:21:44.249 00:21:44.259 like this you know and in small rural
00:21:45.840 00:21:45.850 communities and so this is you know one
00:21:47.879 00:21:47.889 of the big issues here in Arvin what the
00:21:52.019 00:21:52.029 city and its residents here what they're
00:21:55.560 00:21:55.570 truly experiencing is is not the normal
00:21:58.590 00:21:58.600 in fact it's the exception and it's
00:22:00.899 00:22:00.909 really an injustice that they're having
00:22:04.110 00:22:04.120 to suffer through these environmental
00:22:05.549 00:22:05.559 burdens whether it's air quality water
00:22:08.220 00:22:08.230 contamination I know that my opinion of
00:22:12.240 00:22:12.250 the industry has been shaped by the fact
00:22:14.519 00:22:14.529 that I've been involved in it for
00:22:16.139 00:22:16.149 decades successfully and and I am still
00:22:19.529 00:22:19.539 here and I am still healthy and my
00:22:21.029 00:22:21.039 children and my neighbors and my
00:22:22.379 00:22:22.389 employees are all still healthy as well
00:22:24.360 00:22:24.370 so decades of experience have shaped my
00:22:27.749 00:22:27.759 opinion
00:22:33.450 00:22:33.460 hey our buddy
00:22:37.920 00:22:37.930 nice to see everybody I'm sure I'm glad
00:22:40.420 00:22:40.430 you can take time out of your busy day
00:22:42.540 00:22:42.550 sit down and talk about what's going on
00:22:45.250 00:22:45.260 in this world we have very common needs
00:22:48.400 00:22:48.410 whether we live in the city of Taft or
00:22:50.590 00:22:50.600 the city of Arvin or the state of
00:22:52.360 00:22:52.370 California or anywhere else how many
00:22:55.510 00:22:55.520 people here have family members that
00:22:58.060 00:22:58.070 have been involved in the industry for a
00:22:59.710 00:22:59.720 while it's about everybody they don't
00:23:05.050 00:23:05.060 focus on the bigger picture behind the
00:23:07.990 00:23:08.000 oil and there may be incidents where
00:23:10.420 00:23:10.430 there's spills or fires but that's not
00:23:13.300 00:23:13.310 our goal like we're more focused on the
00:23:15.760 00:23:15.770 pros than the cars there's always going
00:23:18.220 00:23:18.230 to be trade-offs but oil is one of the
00:23:20.830 00:23:20.840 most widely used fuels that we have out
00:23:23.230 00:23:23.240 there and it's really efficient for our
00:23:24.940 00:23:24.950 community and everywhere around the
00:23:26.830 00:23:26.840 world that uses it as a reality of it
00:23:29.350 00:23:29.360 that is a fact
00:23:30.900 00:23:30.910 quality of life is important to all of
00:23:33.400 00:23:33.410 us and ignorance is not an evil thing
00:23:36.030 00:23:36.040 ignorance just means people haven't been
00:23:38.200 00:23:38.210 exposed to the facts
00:23:39.730 00:23:39.740 that's what dialogue is all about it's
00:23:42.100 00:23:42.110 not about throwing rocks or casting
00:23:44.800 00:23:44.810 dispersions upon one's credibility it's
00:23:46.900 00:23:46.910 about a sharing of realities
00:23:54.359 00:23:54.369 oil will be a critical part of our
00:23:58.269 00:23:58.279 quality of life for long after I'm dead
00:24:01.089 00:24:01.099 and long after my children will be dead
00:24:03.309 00:24:03.319 we will find more of it we'll do a
00:24:05.349 00:24:05.359 better job of removing it and we will
00:24:07.419 00:24:07.429 utilize the benefits of it more
00:24:09.489 00:24:09.499 efficiently every single day Arvin is
00:24:14.499 00:24:14.509 full of humble and hardworking people
00:24:15.909 00:24:15.919 and it's truly a David and Goliath story
00:24:18.939 00:24:18.949 when we're talking about putting health
00:24:20.979 00:24:20.989 and safety first versus a legacy
00:24:23.589 00:24:23.599 billion-dollar industry that's centered
00:24:26.379 00:24:26.389 right here in Kern County despite of
00:24:28.509 00:24:28.519 that we were able to succeed and our
00:24:30.969 00:24:30.979 Arvin story is not alone now there's
00:24:33.129 00:24:33.139 communities up and down the Central
00:24:34.959 00:24:34.969 Valley that they are suffering and if we
00:24:37.479 00:24:37.489 can succeed here in Kern County the
00:24:39.579 00:24:39.589 number two oil-producing county in the
00:24:41.169 00:24:41.179 country then other cities can go ahead
00:24:43.809 00:24:43.819 and succeed elsewhere as well and that
00:24:46.269 00:24:46.279 the power truly lies within the people
00:24:48.639 00:24:48.649 if there's support from the community
00:24:50.859 00:24:50.869 then they can really do great things
00:24:58.650 00:24:58.660 00:25:10.170 00:25:10.180 00:25:18.420 00:25:18.430 00:25:44.340 00:25:44.350 00:25:47.170 00:25:47.180 00:25:49.360 00:25:49.370 and the far view foundation

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