Ellwood Mesa is a mecca for hikers, joggers, cyclists, surfers, and horseback riders to enjoy a natural preserve of exceptional beauty. Situated on the Western edge of Goleta, it is protected forever from future development. This is no accident, however.
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Forty-eight years ago today, on the morning of January 28, 1969, five miles offshore Summerland at Oil Platform A, something went terribly wrong: the well blew out. As oil began seeping up from the bottom of the ocean floor, so began one of the largest environmental disasters in U.S. history.
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For me gratitude brings the greatest bliss I know, and in this state I recall the birth of the Environmental Defense Center in 1977, forty years ago, and the work that began in 1969 that led to its creation.
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Today is International Volunteer Day and on behalf of all the staff at the Environmental Defense Center, we would like to say thank you to our wonderful team of volunteers! Today is a celebration of the people who give their time, energy, and wisdom to projects and causes they care about, and the work we do at EDC simply would not be possible without our volunteers.
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With 18 years of fine-tuning, we are proud to say that the 2016 TGIF season was the most successful yet, ending with a bang at our Fall Feast on October 14th. As the sun set over Santa Barbara, 300 people joined us in our festive downtown courtyard and enjoyed delicious food prepared by Big Easy […]
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Good news has come after 10 years of monitoring the protected waters around the Santa Barbara Channel Islands. The health of the ecosystem is improving, and although there will still be challenges ahead, the long term outlook is very hopeful.
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Almost exactly a year after an oil pipeline owned by Plains All American LLP ruptured and spilled at least 143,000 gallons of crude oil into the coast at Refugio State Beach, Ventura residents awoke on the morning of Thursday, June 23 to yet another major oil pipeline spill. This latest regional oil calamity originated from an aging, 75 year old line known as the “V-10” which moves oil from Ventura oil fields to Los Angeles area refineries. The spill eventually released an estimated 30,000 gallons of crude into the Prince Barranca in a densely populated area within the City of Ventura adjacent to Ventura High School.
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On March 18, the Channel Island National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS) Advisory Council marked the successful completion of a year-long working group effort to address two critical environmental issues in the Santa Barbara Channel, ship strikes on whales and air pollution from ships. The Environmental Defense Center (EDC) co-chaired this working group process, which brought together key stakeholders tasked with identifying possible solutions to these resource management challenges.
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I recently developed a new appreciation for our Clean Water Act work here at the Environmental Defense Center through learning how to surf. This April, I joined a group of friends on a surf trip to Baja with the Santa Barbara-based iSurf school. It was my first time trying the sport and even though I got thrown under waves, snapped my leash, and dinged up my feet on rocks, I had a blast. But as I was out in the water looking back to shore, I noticed a pipe coming over a cliff, and I was afraid to know what kind of nasty pollutants might be in any discharge coming out of it. Driving through Mexico I saw dirty scrap yards and other industrial operations that in the U.S. would make for straightforward Clean Water Act enforcement cases. That made me grateful for the water quality protections we have at home.
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Earth Month 2016 at Aveda signifies 10 years of raising $38M for clean water, locally and abroad. What an incredible feat that has positively impacted lives in ways we may never know. It begs the question: What would have happened – to people, families, animals, ecosystems – if those efforts weren’t made?
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