SACRAMENTO, California (Press Release) – State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) has just introduced a bill to ban offshore oil drilling from an area of state waters in the Santa Barbara Channel known as Tranquillon Ridge, her office said Friday, June 20. The area is designated as a Marine Protected Area because of its sensitive marine ecosystem.
In 1994, declaring that “offshore oil and gas production in certain areas of state waters poses an unacceptably high risk of damage and disruption to the marine environment of the state,” the California Legislature banned any new offshore oil and gas leases when it passed the California Coastal Sanctuary Act. But a loophole in state law left Tranquillon Ridge, which extends into state and federal waters, with reserves that are currently being tapped in federal waters from Platform Irene, uniquely vulnerable to offshore drilling.
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Senate Bill 1096 repeals this loophole, found in Public Resources Code 6244.
“For too long, oil companies have been eying this precious marine ecosystem as theirs for the taking. With each new proposal, we have mustered our resources, and fought for our environmental future,” said Jackson. “This bill would close the book on the possibility of future offshore drilling in these state waters and help ensure that our precious coastline remains protected forever.”
Over the years, oil companies have made numerous attempts to tap into Tranquillon Ridge’s offshore reserves from state waters. Since 2003, an oil development proposal has been pursued by Sunset and Exxon to drill into Tranquillon Ridge reserves from an onshore location at Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Slant drilling from onshore into offshore waters raises significant concerns about possible oil spills, impacts on marine life, air and water pollution, and contributions to global climate change.
“We are thrilled to sponsor this bill, which would protect one of the most environmentally rich areas on the California coast,” said Linda Krop, chief counsel of the Environmental Defense Center, a nonprofit environmental law firm headquartered in Santa Barbara County. “This region is recognized as one of five important ecological regions on the planet. For this reason, the state has designated this area as a Marine Protected Area, which means that it warrants the highest possible level of protection.”
“If a project like the original T-ridge, which contained significant environmental benefits, was rejected by the state, then our community should vehemently oppose an oil project that has even worse environmental impacts and no benefits,” said Assemblymember Das Williams (D-Santa Barbara). “This bill would protect our waters from potential harmful new oil development.”
Tranquillon Ridge is designated as a Marine Protected Area because of its sensitive marine ecosystem, and fishing, as well as public entry, is restricted there.
In 1969, 35 miles of Santa Barbara County’s pristine coastline was devastated by an oil slick resulting from offshore oil extraction. This disaster gave rise to the modern environmental movement and the yearly international celebration, Earth Day.
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Preceding provided by Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson
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This bill is a uniquely bad idea. Every year in the Santa Barbara channel we experience natural seepage of 40,000 barrels of oil. That means that every three years we have the equivalent of an Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster. Drilling for that oil and using it means less to seep out and foul the beaches (anyone who has visited SB and walked along the beach knows what I mean here). Also, natural seepage of oil and gas is the largest contributor to local air pollution. Clearly the local marine life has figured out how to thrive despite the high oil content in the water.
And lastly, in California we are hugely dependent on foreign oil, primarily from Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Why on earth would we want to enact legislation that makes us more dependent on two countries that are large exporters of terrorism? The faster we are independent of middle eastern oil, the better. The continued existence of Israel is not the least of those reasons.