Marcia Hanscom, the influential, grassroots environmentalist who successfully won the battle to save a major portion of the Ballona Wetlands, has raised a red flag alert to her supporters, writing that bureaucrats at the California State Lands Commission are holding a hearing this morning to possibly allow oil drilling off the Los Angeles County coast.

“There are plans to drill off the coast of Malibu and Santa Monica Bay,” Hanscom writes in an email. “Yes, right here off the Los Angeles County Coastline!!!!!!!”

The hearing comes at a strange time for Los Angeles. Just a few months ago, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, during his State of the City address, spoke about turning Los Angeles into a “growing capital of the green economy,” adding that “if we follow this path, we can turn a new page toward a green tomorrow.”  

Hanscom, as well as many other environmentalists and even politicians, believes off-shore drilling endangers the environment and will most definitely mess with Villaraigosa's big promise of a “green tomorrow.”

Hanscom now pleads with supporters to attend the hearing: “If you think it makes no rational sense to be starting NEW oil

drilling in the region when switching from fossil fuels to RENEWABLE

ENERGY SOURCES are CRUCIAL to the planet's survival…..PLEASE ATTEND

THIS HEARING!”

Environmentalists and government bureaucrats will convene at the Radisson Hotel at the Los Angeles Airport at 10 a.m. today for what should be a wild, no-punches-pulled showdown. For anyone who can't make it in person, you can watch the proceedings at this live stream.

Contact Patrick Range McDonald at pmcdonald@laweekly.com.

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