Not off our coast: California
Not off our coast
Editorial, San Francisco Chronicle, 23-Jul-2006
California Governor Schwarzenegger opposes drilling
Not off our coast
Editorial
San Francisco Chronicle
Sunday, July 23, 2006
THE U.S. SENATE is expected to vote this week on a bill that would expand offshore oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
As always in the horse-trading atmosphere of the U.S. Capitol, the repercussions of the bill are being felt far from the 8 million acres off the west coast of Florida that would be opened to drilling. As usual, some of the arguments have nothing to do with the wisdom and merits of oil and gas exploration in the gulf.
Alaska's two Republican U.S. senators, Ted Stevens and Lisa Murkowski, have made their support for the legislation contingent on Alaska getting a cut of the new drilling revenues. Yes, these are the same senators who have suggested that increased energy production was such a national imperative that they are willing to sacrifice the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. So their concern here is obviously not about the gulf environment. It's about money. They want to join the other oil-producing gulf states that are getting a cut of the potential bounty: Louisiana, Texas, Alabama and Mississippi.
For California and New Jersey senators, the big concern is not in the Senate bill -- which would contain the new drilling to the gulf -- but the more open-ended language in the House version. Disregard is too tame of a word to describe Rep. Richard Pombo's attitude toward protecting this state's natural treasures. The Tracy [CA] Republican, chairman of the House Resources Committee, shepherded through a version of the bill that would lift a quarter-century-old moratorium on drilling off the California coast and shift the control of such decisions to the states.
If the Senate bill advances, differences with the House version would be resolved in a conference committee. Senators should make it absolutely clear that this bill is about oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. It should not be about creating a windfall for Alaska or a nightmare for California.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/07/23/EDGOBIQ7181.DTL
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California Governor Schwarzenegger opposes drilling
In advance of this week's anticipated Senate vote on offshore oil drilling, Gov. Schwarzenegger will deliver opening remarks on a conference call hosted by the Sierra Club opposing the Deep Ocean Energy Resources (DOER) Act. Earlier this month, Gov. Schwarzenegger sent a letter to every senator urging them to vote NO on DOER. He has also sent a letter to Rep. Richard Pombo expressing his opposition to weakening existing protections against offshore oil drilling.
Schwarzenegger on offshore drilling: "I'm opposed to any weakening of the moratorium ... We need to invest in alternative fuels, that's the answer. We need to invest in new technologies, that's the answer."
http://www.sierraclub.org/energy/schwarzenegger/2006-07-25.mp3
Schwarzenegger on DOER: "I can tell you that certain things are not negotiable. Our coast is not for sale and no amount of promises of money or other “incentives” will alter my position on that."
http://gov.ca.gov/index.php/press-release/1598/
Schwarzenegger to Pombo: "If California’s approach to energy conservation and efficiency standards were adopted nationwide, we might not be having this debate over the exploitation of the oil and gas resources off our coast."
http://gov.ca.gov/index.php/press-release/1091/
Posted by Arthur Caldicott on 24 Jul 2006