But first, what's this strange little book about? Oil Beach takes the past half-century in the Los Angeles harbor as a prompt to think about the recent past, present, & future of climate, biodiversity, & energy here & elsewhere. San Pedro Bay is of global significance for its seaport that handles a HUGE volume of container shipping as well as petroleum transshipment. I.e. even if California or the US got off *consuming* fossil fuel, this site is still implicated in its lethal trade.