350SB works for the just transition from fossil fuel production to renewable energy in the county of Santa Barbara. We work closely with partner organizations on campaigns such as No New Oil Wells and 100% Renewable SB, as well as hosting rallies, town halls, and other events. We are a grassroots organization which relies entirely on the passion and hard work of local residents who share the dream of a future of climate justice.

The group was founded in February 2013. Since then, we have grown into a wide network with a 6-member steering committee, 8-member advisory board, around 50 active members, and a wider network of over 1000 people.

Since 2013, we have worked on campaigns ranging from putting a ballot measure together against hydraulic fracturing, working to fight new oil development, and coordinating with organizations locally to spur creation of renewable energy. Here are a few of our accomplishments:

Current Work:

No New Oil

In recognizing the need for a fast and just transition away from fossil fuels, 350 Santa Barbara has been working with partner organizations to encourage legislation which would block the drilling of new oil wells and the construction of new fossil fuel infrastructure in the county. Two companies – TerraCore and AERA – are collectively proposing to drill over new oil wells in Northern Santa Barbara County. These wells would drill through the Santa Maria Valley Groundwater Basin which provides drinking water to over 200,000 people. We need to be moving towards a 100% renewable economy, which means it’s time to be done with fossil fuels – in terms of our health, climate, and environment. Learn more here.

100% Renewable SB

In 2017, the cities of Santa Barbara and Goleta passed resolutions to move to 100% renewable energy by 2030. We are working with our partner organizations to help the cities reach these goals. We stand for 100% renewable energy that is community-owned and locally-produced.

The latest feasibility study of community choice energy (CCE, a.k.a. community choice aggregate CCA) for Santa Barbara County was completed on May 25, 2018. The consultant group Pacific Energy Advisors deemed CCE viable for the county. Read the report here: CCA Study – 05.25.2018 PEA.

Find more information and resources about CCE/CCA here.

 

Past Work:

Measure P

350 SB formed an organization, the Santa Barbara Water Guardians, to put Measure P on the ballot in 2014 which would have banned extreme forms of energy extraction in Santa Barbara County, including hydraulic fracturing (“fracking), cyclic steam injection, and acidization. The Water Guardians mobilized hundreds of volunteers to first get enough signatures to put Measure P on the ballot and then to garner community support. In response, major energy companies put over $7 million into an anti-Measure P campagin. While the measure was ultimately defeated, the campaign put the dangers of such energy extractions on the public’s radar.

 

Fossil Fuel Divestment

If it’s wrong to wreck the climate, it’s wrong to profit from that wreckage. 350.org kicked off a fossil fuel divestment campaign in 2012 modeled after the Apartheid divestment campaign from the 1980s. Since then, over $5 trillion have been moved out of fossil fuel companies around the world (learn more here). Then in 2017, we worked with our partner organization, Santa Barbara Standing Rock Coalition (SBSRC), who spearheaded and won the campaign to get the city of Santa Barbara to divest from the banks investing in the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and implement a Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) Policy for all future investments.

Community Rights

“From gas drilling to toxic dumping to water bottling…who makes the rules where you live—corporations or residents? The Community Rights Program assists communities confronted by harmful corporate projects to assert their right to make important decisions that impact them by passing binding laws that place the rights of residents (and nature) above the claimed legal “rights” of corporations. At the heart of the Community Rights Program is the belief that our right to create the kind of place we want to live and reining in corporate exploitation of our communities is the next evolution of the civil rights revolution.” – from the Global Exchange website. We worked with Global Exchange to ban fracking and other fossil fuel industry practices within Santa Barbara County by using the community- and nature-rights legislative approach.