Draw the line at Phillips 66 rail proposal
It’s time for our community to draw the line.
In 1926, San Luis Obispo experienced an oil explosion on Tank Farm Road from a natural occurrence, lightning. That explosion was unpredictable, and it could not be contained. It was one of the worst environmental disasters in our community’s history.
Today, let us not allow the short-term need for fossil fuels to be the reason the Phillips 66 oil train terminal project is approved. Let us not again allow the potential of an unpredictable oil explosion affect our county, or, and perhaps worse, affect another town. For if an explosion were to occur in another town, it would fall on our shoulders as the county that approved this project.
As a community, may we draw the line and take a stand that we will not invest in fossil fuels, but that we will focus on a more sustainable, clean and safe future.
Mary A. Ciesinski, San Luis Obispo
Editor’s note: Mary Ciesinski is executive director of ECOSLO.
This story was originally published January 2, 2016 at 6:06 PM with the headline "Draw the line at Phillips 66 rail proposal."