The League of Women Voters of Monterey County will present a free talk titled: Humbled: How California’s Monterey Bay Escaped Industrial Ruin” at a live-streamed General Meeting at 12:30 pm on Wednesday, May 12, 2021.
The Monterey Bay is a place of beauty and natural splendor, but in the 1960s it narrowly avoided becoming a vast industrial complex. This was one of the first major battles of the modern environmental movement. Our guest speakers, Glenn Church and Kathryn McKenzie, will explain the story behind the plan to industrialize Moss Landing, from their book titled “Humbled.”
It details the proposal in 1965 by Humble Oil Company to build a 50,000-barrel-a-day refinery, and the effort by activists, farmers and local politicians to turn the project aside. If the oil refinery had been built, it’s likely there never would have been a Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Monterey Bay Aquarium, or the kind of natural environment that we enjoy today. Church and McKenzie’s recently published book tells the story of how a community fought back against big industry, and won.
Glenn Church, a North Monterey County farmer and businessman, is a fourth-generation county resident. His father, Warren Church, served as Monterey County Supervisor from 1965-1977. Kathryn McKenzie, a longtime journalist in the Monterey Bay area, grew up in Watsonville and Santa Cruz. She and Glenn Church have been married since 2017 and make their home near the Elkhorn Slough.
A question and answer period will follow. To attend, send a message to LWVmryco@gmail.com requesting an invitation.
This talk will be recorded and posted on the LWVMC website (under Luncheon Videos): https://my.lwv.org/california/
