Governor Jerry Brown this October signed two bills that will require more frequent oil pipeline inspections and improve oil spill response, but the questionable "marine protected areas" created under the privately-funded Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative still fail to protect the ocean from pollution, fracking, oil drilling, military testing, corporate aquaculture and all human impacts other than sustainable fishing and Tribal gathering.

The two bills, authored by Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), arose in response to this year’s Refugio Oil Spill in Santa Barbara County. They represent a first step forward in preventing future oil spills from devastating sea mammal, bird and fish populations and the ocean ecosystem along the California coast. Unfortunately, authentic ocean protection along the California coast won't become a reality until the Marine Life Protection Act of 1999 is enforced fully and not selectively and unjustly as it is now.

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