Phillips 66 oil rail proposal doesn’t fit California’s goals

I and hundreds of thousands of Californians thank The Tribune’s Editorial Board for opposing the Phillips 66 Santa Maria Refinery rail spur project (“San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission should follow staff recommendation and reject Phillips 66 rail spur,” Jan. 30).

As The Tribune mentioned, the crude-by-rail boom endangers communities in San Luis Obispo County and beyond, which is why six counties, 21 cities and dozens of school boards, community organizations, labor unions, elected officials and public agencies from Los Angeles to San Jose have lined up against the project.

Massive expansion of oil transit on California rails is absolutely the wrong answer for San Luis Obispo County and points farther afield. In a state working to cut our dependence on dirty and dangerous fossil fuels, there’s no reason to escalate moving them through our communities and endangering thousands of lives and millions of dollars in property.

Hundreds of Californians, representing hundreds of thousands more, are expected to attend the Planning Commission’s meetings this week to oppose the project. I look forward to seeing the commissioners stand with their staff, their hometown newspaper and thousands of Californians and reject this dangerous project.

This story was originally published February 4, 2016 at 2:30 PM with the headline "Phillips 66 oil rail proposal doesn’t fit California’s goals."