Source:
The Bay CitizenOpponents of Proposition 23 released a report on Wednesday detailing safety violations at Valero’s and Tesoro’s refineries in California. The two Texas-based companies, which operate refineries in the Bay Area in Benicia and Martinez, are the largest financial backers of Prop. 23, the ballot initiative that would suspend AB 32, the state’s landmark global warming law.
The report, entitled “Off the Charts: How Tesoro and Valero Routinely Violate California’s Health and Safety Laws,” was issued by the No on 23 campaign and is based on documents obtained from state Air Quality Management districts through public record requests. The districts regulate the refineries.
“These powerful documents, which have previously not been made public, go to a matter of public trust when it comes to motives of the two Texas oil companies funding the initiative,” said Tom Steyer, chair of No on 23, in an e-mailed statement. “The documents make clear that Tesoro and Valero have repeatedly violated California's health and safety protections, exposed our people to harmful toxins and put our communities in harm's way.”
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AB 32 requires the state to develop regulations that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. While the law concerns greenhouse gas emissions, left unchecked global warming will harm overall air quality, according to Bonnie Holmes-Gen, senior policy director for the American Lung Association in California, which opposes Prop. 23. “Increased temperatures increase formation of ozone in the atmosphere,” she said. “Smog or ozone is generated in the air, from specific pollutants. Nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons have to cook in the air. Hotter temperatures generate more ozone.”
Read more:
http://www.baycitizen.org/proposition-23/story/report-highlights-prop-backers-pollution/
The mainstream cable media still largely ignores the efforts of oil companies to undermine efforts to wean our nation off of fossil fuels, but here is a nice local newspaper noting the sordid pollution history of Proposition 23's backers.