Launched in 2018, Elected Officials to Protect California (EOPCA) is a bipartisan network of over 250 local elected officials from a majority of counties calling to phase out fossil fuel production statewide and protect communities living next to oil and gas extraction and production sites.
EOPCA garnered 80 news media hits, helping direct the national media narrative around the Global Climate Action Summit.
As of 2018, our network included 68 mayors and vice mayors, 27 county supervisors, and majorities of councils in San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and West Hollywood. Our success far exceeded expectations and led to a new project where we are working to ban oil extraction from the state.
Founded in 2012, Elected Officials to Protect New York (EOPNY) is a statewide bipartisan network which organized more than 1,000 officials from all 62 counties to successfully ban fracking statewide, and advance clean energy and fossil fuel divestment, accumulating over 200 news media hits, including the New York Times, Washington Post, and BBC.
EOPNY played a key role in building momentum behind the state’s moratorium on fracking. Our work organizing elected officials led Governor Cuomo to eventually ban fracking statewide in 2015, and our efforts also urged Cuomo’s decision in 2017 to be the first governor to call for divestment from fossil fuels.
Today, EOPNY continues to work towards divesting state funds as well as progressing clean energy legislation through the state. Find out more about our present work with EOPNY through their Facebook page.
Arizona
Code Blue tells true stories using water security as a means to illustrate the dangers of and solutions to climate change. For example, here we expose the issue of Saudi Arabia unjustly purchasing U.S. water rights and U.S. land to grow cattle feed that is shipped back to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia was legally permitted to buy these water rights despite an 18-year drought in the American Southwest; in Arizona alone, they can freely extract up to 2.3 million gallons of water a day. Arizona’s local solutions to the historic drought could help communities across America.
United States’ citizens deserve adequate water security. Unfortunately, this right is persistently unmet, depriving Americans of a healthy lifestyle. Code Blue seeks to educate viewers about this grim reality and inspire change for the better.
Maine
As the world experiences drastic environmental disruption due to climate change, the increasing lack of fresh water is causing conflicts around the globe. But there is hope – real solutions are already making a difference. Maine has heavily developed solar power and established cutting edge, offshore wind platforms with the potential to export clean energy for the Eastern seaboard.
The production of this film was funded by a grant from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State and administered by World Learning through a cooperative agreement. This is the first in a series of Code Blue documentaries.