CLCV Statement on 2/10/2016 Coastal Commission meeting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jenesse Miller (jmiller@ecovote.org)

Oakland (February 11, 2016) — The California League of Conservation Voters has a 40-year history and record of strong and unwavering support for protection and advocacy on behalf of our unmatched coastline. The Coastal Act is the product of a grassroots effort to protect California’s most iconic landscape for all of us, and it is our continuing responsibility as Californians to steward this national treasure for the generations that follow us.

The California Coastal Commission is now at a historic crossroads. In the wake of yesterday's vote to remove its Executive Director there is important work to be done at the Commission to build and restore trust between all parties — the public, the commissioners and agency staff — so that the public can feel confident in the ability of the Commission to do its job and protect the coast for all Californians and future generations. We are committed to working with community and legislative allies on solutions to increase transparency in all aspects of commission access and decision-making. That work must begin today; as the thousands of Californians who contacted the commission in recent weeks made clear, our coast is a national treasure belonging to all of us.

As coastal champion and former CA Coastal Commission Executive Director Peter Douglas once said:

“You can’t take our relationship with the coast for granted, because it took a lot of sweat, blood and tears to preserve it so we have what we have today. These things didn’t just happen. The coast is what it is because a lot of people worked really hard and sacrificed to protect it. And if we want it to be there for our children, we have to keep fighting to protect it. In that way, the coast is never saved, it’s always being saved.”