On June 9 at its annual Green & Blue fundraiser, the Environmental Defense Center (EDC) celebrated its accomplishments over the past year and honored Heal the Ocean Co-Founder and Executive Director Hillary Hauser. The annual event drew nearly 600 supporters, including many nonprofit and community leaders, who enjoyed an extended reception and a program on the scenic grounds of Rancho La Patera.
Executive Director Alex Katz, who took the helm a year ago, shared with guests highlights of EDC’s recent victories, noting that the “scrappy” nonprofit continues to go up against some of the country’s most powerful entities. Katz pointed to the monumental victory against ExxonMobil’s attempts to truck vast amounts of oil through this community. He noted that trucking would not only have been dangerous because oil trucks “tend to crash and catch fire way too often,” but also because it would have helped Exxon restart the three platforms, pipelines, and the Las Flores Canyon processing plant. In February, Exxon dismissed its case and later sold its three platforms, pipelines, and the processing plant to Sable Offshore.
There was also the preservation of 4,000 acres of historic ranch land in Santa Ynez Valley. Another victory was a settlement to help Southern California steelhead make a comeback in local rivers by requiring more water to flow from the Twitchell Dam.