A huge Fourth of July fireworks display for the 250th anniversary of America has been wrecked by climate warriors.
Long Beach scrapped its “Big Bang on the Bay” for the first time in 15 years after the California Coastal Commission refused the use of pyrotechnics.
The festival typically attracts thousands to watch the incredible spectacle over Alamitos Bay on the evening of July 3 but is now being strongarmed into using drones.
It comes as San Diego also launched a war on fireworks for the Fourth of July, with a popular show at SeaWorld switching to drones and the city slashing explosives in their show by 15% last year.
Fireworks explode in the sky between the Queen Elizabeth, left, and the Queen Mary in Long Beach on Thursday, July 4, 2019. MediaNews Group via Getty Images
The California Coastal Commission approved a five-year permit for Long Beach last year, with the city agreeing to transition from fireworks to a drone show beginning in 2026.
Businessman John Morris, who organizes the show, unsuccessfully appealed the decision in a meeting with the commission on Wednesday.
The city will nix its annual July 4th fireworks display, named “Big Bang on the Bay,” for the first time in 15 years after the state denied an appeal to host the show in its traditional form. MediaNews Group via Getty Images
A local business owner and organizer of the show, John Morris, appealed the decision in a meeting with the commission on Wednesday.
“I believe I’m in the right, so I’m always going to fight,” Morris told The Long Beach Post. He previously noted the switch to drones was unlikely, leaving the show’s cancellation imminent.
Morris said testing done for 10 years shows that fireworks do not pollute the water or affect wildlife. “We have big plans for the 250th birthday next year for this country,” he told the commission last year.
“Of course it’s going to be about fireworks.” A drone show would be much more expensive, he said at the hearing. “So, all of a sudden, from a $40,000 fireworks show, we’d be up to $200,000,” Morris said.
Morris argued he had support for the fireworks from Rep. Robert Garcia, state Sen. Lena Gonzalez and Assemblyman Josh Lowenthal, as well as Long Beach City Councilmember Kristina Duggan.
His appeal was denied. Morris said that testing they’ve done for 10 years shows that the display does not pollute the water or affect wildlife. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
“Fireworks to me, it just seems like the best way,” he told CBS News. “Any other option is going to be hard to rally as many people as we rally.”
Duggan said a pyrotechnics display would discourage illegal fireworks use.
She called the show a “controlled professionally managed alternative,” as opposed to unregulated illegal fireworks, which have a “much greater impact on our neighborhood.”
The show typically brings in donations that can be given to nonprofits across Long Beach.
“The Belmont Shore Rugby Club has a workforce initiative. They have a scholarship initiatives and they just said this is their biggest fundraising event a year,” nonprofit leader Shane Hardy told CBS News.
Hardy believes the show should go on this year — fireworks or not. “We’re gonna have to get a little bit artsy and creative of how we’re gonna make this year happen,” Hardy said.