No CCA in Torrance: Big Green Mafia Don Joe Galliani Wants to SHUT DOWN Torrance Refinery

Clint Paulson reporting the following about the city of Torrance's ongoing effort to pursue Community Choice Aggregation.

It does not promote the community.

It does not provide choice.

And it aggregates power to the few at the expense of the rest of us.

Here is Clint Paulson's report:

Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) Moves Forward

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  The formation of a CCA took another step forward with Torrance becoming the first local City to approve participation in the South Bay Clean Power Advisory Committee. The Committee will solidify plans to create a CCA by forming a local JPA with other cities, work on a business implementation plan, and draft an RFP for financing and the necessary services to create the CCA. According to its website, the South Bay Clean Power Advisory Committee is chaired by local environmental activist Joe Galliani. Galliani has been a leading proponent of creating a CCA over the last several years.

Joe Galliani?!

350 Joe who is all over the Big Green Agenda?

This guy believes that the world is going to melt away under global warming.

This guy is a Big Green Quack!

AND ....

He wants to shut down the Torrance Refinery.

Check out his comments at the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board in Torrance, California on January 12, 2016:

What is the Torrance City Council thinking?!

The very man who openly declared his hostility to the Torrance Refinery - and science in general - is now heading the effort to force Torrance California into a Joint-Powers Agreement to create a Community Choice Aggregation program!

This action is the most foolish move yet!

This is corrupt and wrong!

Contact the Torrance City Council, and tell them to say NO! to Community Choice Aggregation, and break all ties with Joe "Big Green Mafia Don" Galliani:

PATRICK J. FUREY, MAYOR

3031 Torrance Blvd., Torrance, Calif. 90503
Ph:   (310) 618-2801
Fax: (310) 618-5841
Email     Profile

2016 State of the City Address

Read Transcript     View Introduction Video     View Speech Video

 

HEIDI ANN ASHCRAFT, COUNCIL MEMBER

3031 Torrance Blvd., Torrance, Calif. 90503
Ph:   (310) 618-2801
Fax: (310) 618-5841
Email     Profile

TIM GOODRICH, COUNCIL MEMBER

3031 Torrance Blvd., Torrance, Calif. 90503
Ph:   (310) 618-2801
Fax: (310) 618-5841
E-mail     Profile

MIKE GRIFFITHS, COUNCIL MEMBER

3031 Torrance Blvd., Torrance, Calif. 90503
Ph:   (310) 618-2801
Fax: (310) 618-5841
E-mail     Profile

MILTON S. HERRING, I, COUNCIL MEMBER

3031 Torrance Blvd., Torrance, Calif. 90503
Ph:   (310) 618-2801
Fax: (310) 618-5841
Email     Profile

GEOFF RIZZO, COUNCIL MEMBER

3031 Torrance Blvd., Torrance, Calif. 90503
Ph:   (310) 618-2801
Fax: (310) 618-5841
E-mail     Profile

KURT WEIDEMAN, COUNCIL MEMBER

3031 Torrance Blvd., Torrance, Calif. 90503
Ph:   (310) 618-2801
Fax: (310) 618-5841
E-mail     Profile

Dr. Genghmun Eng: To Protect or to Close ExxonMobil?

I have my concerns about Dr. Genghmun Eng, one of the six Torrance city council candidates.

Is he interested in keeping Torrance safe?

I do not doubt t.

Is he further interested in shutting down the ExxonMobil refinery?

A number of activists in the city do not want ExxonMobil shut down.

At least, that is what they claim.

If I recall, Dr. Eng was one of the first Torrance residents to raise not just significant concerns about the refinery, but also recommended himself to sit on a citizen advisory board.

Dr. Genghmun Eng

Really?!

Look, I understand that residents in the city of Torrance are concerned about the refinery.

If the refinery administrators covered up wrongdoing, they need to be held accountable.

Yet the thunderstorms about the refinery in light of the explosion last February, followed by the reported leaks a few months afterward, do not give me any pause.

I have lived in the city of Torrance for the greater part of my life.

I do not fear for my safety in this city.

For what it's worth, the mayor is not keen on the rising concerns against ExxonMobil.

To what extent should we demand safety and security? Should we go back to living in caves?

I am also a little concerned about people taking any cause for concern, and then lending themselves out to be citizen advisers. Do we really need more people looking for preeminence in this fashion? Really?

A growing point of discussion among environmental activists has focused on replacing one form of acid used in the refinery: modified hydrofluoric acid (MHF).

Getting rid of that form of acid would eventually for the refinery to shut down, wouldn't it?

To this Torrance City Council candidate, I ask:

Dr. Eng, please explain.

Maxine Waters: ExxonMobil Can Go Straight to Hell!

Congresswoman Maxine Waters released the following statement about the explosions and leaks in and around ExxonMobil, as well as the potential repurcussion for the plant if further problems continue.

Earlier this year, I voiced very strong, pointed concerns that illiberal elements within the city were merely determined to shut the plant down, and would seek any reason to do so.

The statements from the Congresswoman's spokesman suggested that closure of the plant could occur in the future.

Here is another statement from Congresswoman Waters:

Statement by Congresswoman Maxine Waters on Proposed AQMD/ExxonMobil agreement.
April 2, 2016

LOS ANGELES, CA – Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43) released a statement regarding the proposed agreement between ExxonMobil and the AQMD regarding the Torrance refinery. The statement was released to the Hearing Board of the South Coast Air Quality Management District. Congresswoman Waters would have attended the meeting in person but was unable to do so. Her statement follows:

“I have heard from many of my constituents who live in the area surrounding ExxonMobil’s Torrance refinery that they have serious concerns about the reported agreement between ExxonMobil and the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD), which would allow ExxonMobil to restart the refinery’s fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU).”

"ExxonMobil can go straight to hell!"

“While I understand that this agreement has not been officially released to the public, it has nevertheless been reported by the Daily Breeze, and some local residents have obtained a copy.”
“The agreement allows ExxonMobil to significantly exceed pollution limits at the refinery, and it consequently jeopardizes the health and safety of residents of the surrounding community. The agreement’s “Findings of Fact” section states that ExxonMobil’s plans to restart the unit will violate numerous AQMD rules and permit conditions. According to Finding of Fact #30, these violations will result in unmitigated excess emissions in the amounts of 143 pounds of nitrogen oxides, 144 pounds of carbon monoxide, 848 pounds of particulate matter, and 224 pounds of “PM10” particulate matter. I question the wisdom of any agreement that would allow emissions in excess of legal limits.”

How much are we going to allow the federal government to define what pollutes and what does not? The research on the long-term consequences of particulates in the air is more mixed and complex than leading environmental activists would suggest.

“My constituents want to be reassured by the AQMD that the air they breathe and the air their children breathe every day is not going to harm them. I am also concerned that local officials and residents have not had sufficient opportunity to examine this agreement and provide informed comments.”

“I therefore join with residents of the community to urge the Hearing Board of the SCAQMD not to make any decision on this agreement today. Furthermore, I urge the AQMD to require ExxonMobil to comply with all applicable laws and regulations for the good of the community.”
“I understand the concerns about the daily loss of revenues and the possible loss of jobs at ExxonMobil if the company is not able to restart the refinery’s FCCU. However, we must err on the side of safety. The costs of not restarting the FCCU under these proposed conditions pale in comparison to the potential risks to the health and safety of the South Bay.”

Once again, no one wants any plant to endanger the lives of community residents in Torrance, or anyone anywhere in the South Bay.

I still maintain my suspicions about the Torrance Refinery Action Alliance, and the hardly-hidden Big Green Agenda.

The TRAA had easy access to Congressman Ted Lieu, himself an environmental extremist more interest in puffing up his progressive credentials instead of actually serving the city of Torrance, the South Bay, or the state of California.

The same holds true for Congresswoman Waters, too. Just reading over the above press release, one gets the feeling that if the opportunity presented itself, she would  shout:

"ExxonMobil can go straight to hell!"