WORST RETIREMENT EVER LOS ANGELES TOXIC TOUR - Signal Hill with Sierra Club

[@SteveSchmitt-n4u]

Carbon frames are a petroleum product, so go for that anti-oil KOM on a steel bike at least

[@AirwaveMustang]

Smooth roads are also an oil product.

[@larrylem3582]

Petroleum has many uses. Just avoid burning it as a fuel if possible.

[@worstretirementever]

To be clear, I drive a hybrid gas car, and live in the same society that's run on oil as everyone else. That doesn't make anyone a hypocrite. The solution to environmental problems (from oil, bike lanes, and even diet and health) isn't to hope that people will inconvenience themselves to make responsible choices--it's to go big picture and make those options more convenient, cheaper, etc. You wouldn't take your car if public transportation was cheaper and faster, for example. Sierra Club's work here locally (and in their other chapters) has had real impact and we need more of it.

[@kevinkeenan9607]

If it wasn’t for oil you wouldn’t have the conveniences that you and and the rest of us have in our daily lives lives and as for electric cars they are worse for the environment and because nobody’s see what is done to make lithium batteries therefore nobody is complaining about electric vehicles.

[@lacyclist78]

@@kevinkeenan9607 Good point, and since our supply of oil is finite, it makes sense to cut back on using it where ever possible, otherwise all these "conveniences" will go away. Lithium batteries are obviously not perfect, so why not keep looking for a better choice instead of just reverting back to outdated choices that are no better?

[@DanBrim]

I grew up on the border of Redondo Beach and Torrance, less than two miles as the crow flies to an oil refinery. It used to belong to Mobil, I think it has been sold since. We could see the flame from the gas flare from the playground of my elementary school and you can still hear the emergency drill sirens from my parents’ house. On days with the right wind (especially in the 90s), the air smelled like chemicals. Thank you for the work you are doing with the Sierra Club. While I and my family have not dealt with any direct consequences due to living close to the refinery, others have, and as you cite it disproportionately impacts people with lower incomes. I don’t think people from outside LA know how intertwined it is with the oil industry.

[@larryt.atcycleitalia5786]

While I was a child there both the Mobil and Chevron refineries blew up! Didn't escape until 30+ years old, I'm amazed I'm still alive at nearly 70 considering the crap I inhaled/absorbed/etc. during those decades!

[@robertwaldren6206]

I really appreciate the messaging here, and in this context I appreciate what the Sierra Club is doing. I also have a real problem with their history of advocating for almost no access to trails for MTB or gravel riders. I wish they would follow the lead of a group like the Surfrider Foundation, which has combined excellent environmental work with highly effective advocacy for responsible access to public lands and natural spaces for a wide variety of users.

[@panaliga]

Thank you for watching and to Phil for sharing with your audience! Such a great experience to share this with you all 😎

[@adamweb]

I honestly had no idea there were so many oil refineries in the middle of LA... 99% higher cancer rate is sad and insane... reminds me of Corpus Christi, TX.

[@michaelmarsicano1315]

Sierra Club does a lot of great work but man, it's really hard to look past their awful stance on nuclear power.

[@worstretirementever]

I hear that. Sort of the way I feel about it is it's inevitable, and someone has to push against it to keep it done right and to keep renewable energy still on the table, which is very much viable and supplies the majority of the grid in the California already. 54% on average, some days 99% when conditions are good. With more work, we might not even need nuclear here

[@michaelmarsicano1315]

@@worstretirementever Excellent points Phil - appreciate the well thought out response!

[@worstretirementever]

xo. Thanks for being open minded

[@Beesno]

Great vid. Saw the comments are pretty ...uh... feisty, but wanted to jump in and say thanks. Loved the guy from Sierra club who showed up on an all-steel bike. I've found that the person who shows up on steel is very rarely the weakest rider in a bunch. 🤣 And Factor? If you're listening, there are a bunch of us out here who would absolutely love a weight-weenie steel bike frameset (steel fork included) from you all, if you're up for making one.

[@panaliga]

Thanks bro! Steel is real!

[@Pigpen1202]

I really hope we reduce our need for oil. It would be a lot easier if we took the money out of politics. When corporations can give millions they will get what they want and that sucks for the rest of us 😢

[@noahthomas77]

Thanks Phil for coming to LB and making it out to be a toxic wasteland so no one will come ride here!! 😝 Our favorite Thursday ride is called the Tour de Sewer (or the 3 rivers loop) depending on who’s leading! 😝 I live 3 miles from the top of signal hill. My favorite spot if I only have an hour to ride, I’ll go do repeats there. Some days it just smells like oil! Maybe we should give it back to the Tongva people, they would know how to take care of it!

[@smoothmtb]

Thank you Phil for making this vid!

[@alexgilles9778]

Impressive you were able to get the KOM even with doing complete stops at each stop sign:) funny edits

[@lorenzmeier2228]

thanks phil for using your platform for this. It was very interresting, keep up the fight, everyone

[@worstretirementever]

xo

[@oOoACFREEMANoOo]

Thanks for make awareness

[@PaulAngeloff]

The guy talking about gas plants rides an argon. 🤔

[@roryhartong-redden6612]

Hell yeah! This is great

[@worstretirementever]

xo

[@jodyrawles999]

Phil, so glad you did this episode. Proud resident of Long Beach since 1998 so really glad you came down to the south bay and road the "Tour de Sewers' as we like to call it. Love the environmental advocacy and promotion of the Sierra Club. Just one complaint: its the LONG BEACH AQUARIUM not the LA Aquarium. Ride safe, -jrawles

[@worstretirementever]

ah dammit

[@Bazn3XB]

"I did not run that stop sigh" had me LOL

[@noahthomas77]

And why not, everyone runs that stop sign going up and down the hill!

[@mtbkrdon]

So wait, the state that has some of the strictest environmental regulations actually has oil drilling in the city? WTF

[@worstretirementever]

it's bad, and makes you wonder what goes on in other places

[@robertwaldren6206]

Much of Southern California has extensive oil drilling and refining, which started 100+ years ago. Look up historic photos of places like Huntington Beach, which used to be a literal forest of drilling/pumping rigs. SoCal is a very heavily industrialized region, built on things like oil, aerospace, transportation, and other highly polluting industries.

[@worstretirementever]

I was in Huntington Beach the next day and noticed a lot of that...same thing with the pumps right next to homes and public beaches.

[@robertwaldren6206]

@@worstretirementever- Yep. Most of those homes filled in over the years in between the rigs. HB High School even has a drilling rig on their logo, and the team name is the Oilers. That history is a big part of why it’s such a working class town, mixed with multi-million dollar oceanfront homes…next to oil wells.

[@gerrysanabria6865]

There’s an oil drilling rig in the Huntington Beach City Hall parking lot.

[@edubeezye9624]

I don't know if this is still in effect, but when a buddy of mine bought a house in S.H. he had to sign a health waver that he couldn't sue the city or companies of he or his family got sick from the pollution.

[@worstretirementever]

wow

[@JohnTwa]

Maybe you should talk to Stefan about cutting his methane emissions….

[@worstretirementever]

hahaha thank you i just did

[@Boomeranger]

That’s my superpower!🤷‍♂️

[@BillDeanCycle]

​@@Boomeranger This Video brought me so much unexpected laughter! Stefan I must admit your toxic contributions are why I burst out with guffaws! You are a great guy and terrific teacher/mentor to less experienced track riders despite being a danger to follow in a pace line due to your possible toxic exhaust! 😂

[@Boomeranger]

@@BillDeanCycle I prefer to think of it a jet power. How are you, mate?

[@BillDeanCycle]

@@Boomeranger Doin' Good - riding' inside these days

[@stevedouglas3975]

The speed you are going up a 6-7% climb is around my speed on the flat...

[@bobfoster687]

Phase out oil drilling? Rubber tires! Plastic helmets! Plastic cleats! Plastic bar tape! Plastic break hoods! The hypocrisy here is amazing!!!

[@worstretirementever]

dude wants me to ride a bamboo bike wearing burlap and hunting/gathering on my organic farm or I’m a hypocrite for living in society

[@cbkenison]

Dude no one is drilling to make petroleum based goods. Yes we probably need some of that stuff, but it only accounts for 6% of oil consumption. We can obviously phase out a ton of wells and stop future drilling without affecting the ability to produce these things. Get a reality check on the facts before you think we're going back to the stone age

[@SteveSchmitt-n4u]

@@cbkenison - the data I've reviewed indicates it is more like 15-20%, and it's growing as a result of EVs

[@ValachKnight]

​@@worstretirementeverYes, you are a hypocrite. How are you not getting the idiocracy of being offended about being asked to walk the walk?

[@ValachKnight]

​@@cbkenisonAbsolutely, we don't drill for OIL to make OIL BASED products. What stupidity is this?

[@srant]

Ports are always toxic downwind... basically everything adjacent to the port of LB...

[@blond339]

as a kid (70's) it was normal to come home from zuma beach with blobs of oil on your feet

[@worstretirementever]

sheeeesh

[@williamroberts6937]

The LA basin is brimming with oil and lots of it gets to surface naturally (think the La Brea tar pits). There are lots of offshore oil seeps due to natural fissures in the seabed and that's most likely the source of the beach tar

[@MorganBrown]

All the oil seeps off the coast of California are 100% natural

[@PaulAngeloff]

Sheeesh on that Phil

[@zf4hp24]

@@williamroberts6937 The Coal Oil Point seep offshore of Santa Barbara is one of the largest in the world and emits over 100 barrels of oil per day, along with 40 metric tons of methane. Platform Holly's operations reduced these amounts, but since production ceased in 2015, the amount of seepage is up.

[@nerigarcia7116]

Living in LB I travel those paths/roads often. I pretend the power plant is a castle on the river like in Ireland. Helps me get through the ugliness. 😉 But I love Long Beach.

[@worstretirementever]

Super nice area

[@Bazn3XB]

I work in downtown long beach and I take that route home every day!

[@josorzo11]

Let’s buy more oil and pay $10 a gallon 😂😂

[@stevenmeyer9674]

We export and import crude oil depending on the profitability. Believe it or not. In some cases it is more economical purchasing foreign oil than it is using ours.

[@cbkenison]

The true cost of gasoline is much more than what we're paying rn

[@brucerutkoski]

It's so bad that even Jethro & the Hillbillies left Beverly Hills & went back to Appalachia . And they made their fortune in OIL !!

[@CRITESBIKER]

Hey i want to see a bike trailer thats a camper like a roof top tent built from an aluminum ladder that has a false bottom and then pops up to climb in.

[@alexklotz3980]

So embarrassing for that guy in the blue jersey who wanders through the scene checking his phone. Really glad that's not me.

[@colinricketts1415]

Setting an reminder to see how many 'you are woke' comments are here in a weeks time 😶 That looks like a really interesting way of learning about the area you live in, warts and all. I think I may end up spending the next few evenings reading articles on the Sierra Club website

[@mogulmayhem]

I just want to know why the guy in the white helmet doesn't use glasses. EVERY time I leave home without them a bug flies right into my eyeball.

[@RaymondOlgado0]

These are the areas where I ride my bike. 😬

[@SnaxNoCo]

Thanks for speaking the truth, Phil!

[@JimmyDozer]

Remember when Phil loved bikes vs….

[@brucerutkoski]

As pollution is certainly a global issue, who is holding China responsible for the 95% of all new coal power construction in 2023?(Global Energy Monitor data)

[@pingpongballz5998]

Nobody will.

[@cbkenison]

The US has more cumulative emissions, and that CO2 will be around for a hundred years

[@Fehr270]

I thought there weren’t supposed to be stop signs and traffic lights on segments?

[@sergioramirezsergioramirez]

WORST ENVIRONMENT EVER

[@utube7930]

Underated comment

[@bobfoster687]

Let’s shut down power plants while simultaneously buying more electric cars!!!

[@angelessierraclub1832]

that's not quite what we're saying...

[@pingpongballz5998]

Ew no!

[@aryehrosenberg4289]

What's asphalt made out of? What are your sunglasses made out of? Do you use plastic at all?

[@worstretirementever]

"IF YOU PARTICIPATE IN SOCIETY YOU ARE A HYPOCRITE." so sick of this thoughtless troll comment

[@aryehrosenberg4289]

@@worstretirementever Nothing is stopping you from living in the woods and not consuming fossil fuels. You could align your actions with your principles. Only in an energy abundant country would someone ever take your perspective. Go tell some family in India not to consume fossil fuels and stay poor so that it your conscience stays in tact.

[@2WheelsGood.01]

There's a balance to everything.

[@PedalToProgress]

Why are you hating on the guy in red 💁🏻‍♂️😅

[@worstretirementever]

I only hate on people I like

[@PedalToProgress]

@@worstretirementever is that what the person you hating on feel? I realize it is just a short video with cut scenes, but it felt more mean than playful to me. Love the videos and love the awareness of these important topics - keep up the good work! 👌🏻

[@worstretirementever]

Yes I'm sure that Stefan is laughing with us. He saw the clips before I published it

[@Boomeranger]

@@PedalToProgressRed jersey guy here. 👋 I’m good. If Phil ever actually pissed me off, I’d just stop opening his jars for him. 😈

[@PedalToProgress]

@@Boomeranger hahaha glad to hear it!

[@buzzman4860]

Its obviousn that they shouldnt be drilling in populated areas and fault lines.

[@justliberty4072]

Carbon bikes, asphalt roads, styrofoam and plastic helmets, synthetic clothes, petroleum-based paints, plastic lights, synthetic bike-bags, synthetic seat covers, plastic water bottles, synthetic shoes, plastic sunglasses... and un-scientific aspersions citing "cancerasthma" clusters without accounting for differences in income, diet, and other factors. Way to go Phil.

[@worstretirementever]

next time I'll take all of those dirt roads in long beach, drink from the bladder of a dead cow that I fashioned, and squint instead of wearing sunglasses. Thank you for missing the point and putting me in my place

[@jordanvanicek4841]

The irony of it all. Attacking oil while using products derived from oil/petrochemicals (carbon fiber bike frames, plastic helmets, Lycra clothing, plastic water bottles, etc.) So what is the message here? You like oil, but just not where you live? Confused…let me know if you want to come ride in Houston and get an alternate perspective.

[@worstretirementever]

Please see my pinned comment and response there

[@jordanvanicek4841]

@@worstretirementeverI agree with you about public transportation in your pinned post. This country is awful in this regard, and Houston is definitely a laggard. Again, if you want to come to Houston to ride with energy professionals and understand what the oil industry is doing to cleanup methane emissions, converting from integrated oil companies (IOC) to integrated energy companies (IEC) through solar, wind, hydrogen, etc. just reach out. Would be happy to show you around.

[@alewis5836]

did you watch the video?! There's also an important and intersecting social justice, equity and human health intersection here. Transition away from fossil fuels isn't instantaneous, we live in a society, and these are collective problems. Phil is evidently seeking to shed some like on a range of these issues, and specifically in relation to his community and the outdoor recreation around it. After all, there's no fun bikes, KOMs or outdoor recreation on a dead planet. So there's work to do and a million different ways to start. And leaving the oil industry to take on the clean up, remediation or transition is just foolhardy, we know they aren't actively interested in it and will continue to pursue a die-hard profit model to the last possible moment. Impacts on communities be damned!

[@worstretirementever]

@@jordanvanicek4841 keep up the good work and someday I’d love a “cleaned up” Houston video. I wish there was more being done here

[@enriquejimenez7173]

The oil fills and refineries were their first, prior to house is being built next to the refineries or oil drills

[@worstretirementever]

The native Americans were also here first. Something tells me you're not on their side

[@johnkasza2315]

All the housing on signal hill was built years after the oil wells were in..they knew they had a pump outside their window because they have a view.of the city... always entertaining to listen to grown men whining.. EVERY PERSON THERE DRIVES A CAR I BET and uses electricity..do as i say, not as i do

[@worstretirementever]

Did...did cancer write this comment?

[@johnkasza2315]

@@worstretirementever nope, just stating the obvious..give up your car, dont fly any longer or unplug your TV,,then ill listen..i have 3 cars a boat and an RV...the sierra club must hate me! Does invis have any evil oil in it????? You might as well have chevron on your jersey..

[@CheapHomeTech]

Pollution is a serious problem. Cancer rates 99% higher than elsewhere should be a national issue discussed in presidential debates. However, I got queasy seeing your t-shirt and I quit watching when you said "climate is an existential threat". I'd expect this nonsense from Greta. Not you.

[@worstretirementever]

What's wild to me is that I assume you can look around and see an entire society built on setting fire to fossil fuels, look at the exhaust coming from cars and power plants 24/7, none of which is natural, but somehow not think that this could affect the temperature of the planet and have environmental repercussions. I just evacuated by my house in Big Bear due to a wildfire (the size of these wildfires is not natural), and there are over 100 deaths from a hurricane in Asheville, which is nowhere near an ocean last time I checked.

[@EstebanDVO]

Even if you don't believe in climate change, are you saying you are pro pollution? Don't you like hanging out in nature and enjoying outdoors activities? Why would you admit pollution is an issue but immediately say it's not that big of a deal? That's called cognitive dissonance.

[@CheapHomeTech]

@@worstretirementever Last I checked our planet has had 2,000 to as much as 10,000 ppm of CO2 for over 99% of its existence over billions of years. Not the 400 to 500 ppm it is at now. Life on this planet developed and flourished with much more CO2 than we have currently. Yet we are told of tipping points at around 550 or 600. Once a tipping point is reached that our planet will become another Venus. They actually believe that and don't look at history. Then there is the idea that there are more wildfires or hurricanes. Any look at past history will show you the wildfires are down by about 99% of what they were just 100 years ago. Hurricanes? The frequency and intensity has not changed for the last 200 years. Sure we have pundits on TV screaming absurdities but we don't have to believe them. If they do capture your attention then you should do some research. The temperature has risen a little bit. Because we are coming out of an ice age. Like a rising tide that happens a couple times a day. Things change and we have to change with them. Like we should not fight against the fact we are not as fast as we once were on a bike.

[@CheapHomeTech]

@@EstebanDVO Please read what I wrote carefully. In particular I said pollution should be a presidential debate point. I also said the climate is warming.

[@alewis5836]

@@CheapHomeTech just because it doesn't happen to be an existential threat to YOU doesn't mean that it isn't to others, while also being a significant material threat as well. There is a greater level of empathy and solidarity that needs to be cultivated here. The looming reality of climate catastrophe affects many people in different ways. The social justice aspect noted in the video is an essential component that intersects with these other aspects.