Marvel’s new superhero, 14-year-old Genesis Butler, great grandniece of civil rights activist Cesar Chavez, is speaking up for thousands of LA’s wild animals, at the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve, threatened by a reckless bulldozing plan!
“Don’t destroy their home in my name,” says Genesis. This young powerhouse adds Genesis for Animals to the growing list of opponents of the project which threatens the animals the State of California is supposed to protect.
Bulldozing proponents claim they want to dig up Ballona to create public space for inner city children and residents. But, Genesis says: “You don’t need to bulldoze the wetlands for 10 years at a cost of 200 million public dollars. Give children and their families public access NOW! We can bike along the creek, walk on existing trails. Adopt the 20-point Gentle Restoration Alternative. Let the animals keep their home.” Genesis says kids want meaningful access to nature now, not an artificial park in a decade with few animals left.
Genesis, famous for her riveting TedX talk when she was only 10, will lead the news conference.
The controversial plan, rubber-stamped by California’s Department Fish and Wildlife, would bulldoze LA’s last coastal wetlands, home to 1,700 species: foxes, owls, egrets, skunks, rabbits, pelicans and threatened and endangered species. The plan now faces six lawsuits. Critics contend the primary beneficiary is SoCalGas, whose aging gas storage facility lies beneath the wetlands. The LA City Council recently voted to ask the Governor to shut it down. A similar facility in Aliso Canyon suffered a gas blowout, one of California’s worst environmental disasters.
Other speakers:
Genelle Palacio-Butler, Genesis’ mother, Cesar Chavez’s grand niece
Ellen Dent, Animal Alliance Network
Cesar Asebedo, LA Fish Save
Simone Reyes, Social Compassion in Legislation
Christina Ku, Democrats for the Protection of Animals
Molly Basler, LA City Council Candidate, Green Dream Campaign Founder, Climate Reality Leader with Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project
Lisa Levinson, In Defense of Animals
Marcia Hanscom, Sierra Club
Roy Van de Hoek, Biologist, President of Ballona Institute
Jane Velez-Mitchell, Author, JaneUnChained.com Founder, nearby resident.
