The City of Sonoma took far less time to make a statement against global pollution than they did to stand in favor of the small oyster farmer two weeks ago.
By a 3-2 vote, the City Council moved to send a letter to Pres. Obama Discussion, consideration and possible action authorizing a letter urging President Obama to deny permits for the Keystone XL Pipeline project.
Two weeks earlier, the Council voted 5-0 in favor of the Drake’s Bay Oyster Co. in their effort to avoid being closed by the Dept. of the Interior, in a move that many in the community felt was either inappropriate or just plain misguided.
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While supporters of Kevin Lunny’s Point Reyes farms showed up by the dozen to weigh in on the measure, there were relatively few speakers from the audience either pro or con this measure. The KL project is much farther from Sonoma than the coastal estuary, and would have relatively little immediate impact on residents or businesses in Sonoma.
It's also a great deal further to bus advocates for or against the measure from Hardisty, Alberta than Point Reyes, Marin County.
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The Keystone XL project is one to extract oil from tar sands in the Canadian province of Alberta, but the Pipeline would transport the product across the central US to seaports in Louisiana and Texas, largely for export.
A key argument against it is simply that further reliance on oil-based energy adds to the dangerously high levels of C02 in the atmosphere, creating a global hot-house effect that could take thousands of years to reverse.
More information about Keystone XL here.
But because of its lack of immediate local impact, the measure was called “inappropriate” by its opponents, including nay-sayers Councilmembers Tom Rouse and David Cook.
But Laurie Gallian had a different definition of the project’s impact. “To me, there is no bigger issue we can weigh in on. To me, it’s about the degradation of natural resources.”
She continued, “This is something we need to speak out about, and people rely on their elected officials to take their sides.”
Councilmember Barbose said that, as far as the appropriateness of the measure, he took the John Donne approach: “No man is an island.”
“We need to give Congress a message, loud and clear, “ he said, “We don’t want to sacrifice our health and environment to support corporate profit.”
Mayor Brown, in casting his vote in the affirmative, noted that things have moved quicklyl in the two weeks since the Drake’s Bay measure, and his public persona has changed radically.
“Two weeks ago I was a tool of the Koch Brothers,” he said; “This week I am a godless anticapitalist.”
Following the 3-2 Council split in favor of sending the letter, Mayor Brown refused to belay his activist approach to the Council’s role. “I’m also against fracking,” said Mayor Brown, “so you can look forwards to that [issue] as well.
The letter was requested by Mayor Ken Brown and Councilmember Steve Barbose, and they provided two of the three votes in favor. Councilmember Laurie Gallian joined with them to pass the authorization.
A copy of the letter sent to Pres. Obama is attached to this article.
