Coastal Commission Must Maintain Public Trust
California’s coastal zone covers about 1,100 miles. On land the coastal zone varies in width from several hundred feet in highly urbanized areas up to five miles in some rural areas. Offshore, the coastal zone comprises a three-mile-wide band of ocean. The Coastal Commission has maintained public trust for the past 40 years by providing responsible oversight of California’s coastal resources, while keeping potentially harmful development at bay.
Coastal Commission decisions have direct impacts on communities and the environment, and determine not only whether some people have access to the coast while others are excluded, but also who will bear the burdens of the climate impacts that are occurring and worsening every day. It is important that Coastal Commission appointees reflect the diversity of all the communities they represent and serve, and that commissioners carry out their duties based on the principles of vigorous protection of our imperiled coastal resources and advancement of equity and environmental justice, especially when that requires confrontation with California’s most wealthy, influential, and powerful.
The upcoming Commission appointment must be someone who embodies this commitment to enhancing and protecting our coast, conserving this environment for our children and future generations.
