http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article147424854.html
California just took a step to block Trump’s efforts on offshore oil
drilling
By Angela Hart
Offshore oil drilling is shaping up as the next big fight in the
California vs. Trump war.
In response to President Donald Trump’s latest executive order aimed at
expanding offshore oil drilling in federal waters and opening up other
areas to new oil and gas exploration, state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson is
proposing new legislation to block Trump’s efforts.
Jackson, a Democrat from Santa Barbara, said she’ll unveil legislation
next week to prevent new leases in state waters for construction of new
pipelines or other infrastructure needed for expansion of oil and gas
development.
“Why should we go back to the dirty, dangerous and destructive policies
of the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s?” Jackson asked in a media call Friday.
“President Trump and his oil industry cronies may want to drill, but
we’re going to stop that oil and gas development from being feasible by
preventing it from being shipped or pipelined ashore – from being
transported processed and utilized.”
Trump, in signing the order, said he wants to increase domestic energy
production and spur job growth.
“This executive order starts the process of opening offshore areas to
job-creating energy exploration,” Trump said at a White House ceremony.
“It reverses the (Obama) administration’s Arctic leasing ban and directs
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to allow responsible development of
offshore areas that will bring revenue to our treasury and jobs to our
workers.”
The order lifts the ban on offshore drilling in the Arctic Ocean and
along the coast of the Atlantic. It marks the beginning of potential oil
exploration in new marine sanctuaries, including some off the California
and Florida coasts. It could also lead to new oil leasing in the eastern
Gulf of Mexico, open up waters currently closed, including those off
Cape Hatteras in North Carolina and a wide swath from New Jersey to the
Canadian border.
In comments to reporters Thursday, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said
that the administration recognizes that residents of some states,
including California, do not want offshore oil drilling. Nonetheless,
Trump’s order on Friday requires the Interior Department to review the
oil and gas potential of marine sanctuaries former President Barack
Obama created and expanded.
Jackson and state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León said Trump’s
executive order, which seeks to expand oil drilling in the Arctic and in
the federal waters off the shore of coastal California, represents an
assault on California’s multibillion-dollar tourism and fishing economy
and poses a massive threat to the ocean’s ecosystem.
“California’s iconic coastal and marine waters are one of our state’s
most precious resources, and as elected officials, it is our duty to
ensure the long-term viability of California’s fish and wildlife
resources, and thriving fishing, tourism and recreation sectors,” de
León said. “So it is stunning for us to learn this morning that the new
administration ... is considering opening up California water to new oil
drilling ... we will oppose those efforts.”
California has not authorized an offshore oil or gas lease since 1969,
when a massive oil spill devastated Santa Barbara’s coastline and marine
habitat. It remains California’s largest oil spill and ranks third in
the U.S., behind the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill off the Gulf Coast and
the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska.
California only controls waters 3 miles from the shoreline, where
federal waters begin. Still, Jackson said her bill, set to be unveiled
next week, could stymie new oil and gas development off the state’s coast.
“Sadly, we have no jurisdiction outside the 3-mile limit. But if they
start drilling for oil and gas, they have to transport it somewhere,”
she said. “We will prohibit the State Lands Commission from allowing
them to transport that oil and gas, or make it so expensive that it
simply doesn’t pencil out.”
Jackson and de León were among a chorus of other state officials who
said California would not permit expansion of oil and gas development.
Gov. Jerry Brown, together with the governors of Oregon and Washington
state, called Trump’s executive order “short-sighted” in a statement Friday.
“For good reason, there has been no federal expansion of oil and gas
drilling along our shared coastline for more than 30 years,” they said.
“We still remember what happened in Santa Barbara in 1969, Port Angeles
in 1985, Grays Harbor in 1988 and Coos Bay in 1999. We remember the oil
soaked beaches and wildlife and the devastating economic impacts to
local communities and the fishing industry.
“Now is not the time to turn back the clock. We cannot return to the
days where the federal government put the interests of Big Oil above our
communities and treasured coastline.”
The Western States Petroleum Association, which spent more than any
other group last year lobbying state lawmakers – with $18.7 million in
total spending – avoided a strong position on Trump’s order or Jackson’s
planned legislation.
Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, chairman of the State Lands Commission, said
California would not allow new oil drilling or gas exploration.
“California’s door is closed to President Trump’s Pacific oil and gas
drilling,” Newsom said in a statement. “The State Lands Commission,
which manages or has oversight of all submerged lands along California’s
entire coastline, is unequivocally resolved to create an environmental
rampart along California’s coast.”
Stuart Leavenworth of the McClatchy Washington, D.C., Bureau contributed
to this report.
