A Plan for Ending Offshore Drilling

 

Deborah Brasket, SB CAN Executive Director

 

Posted in Santa Maria Times: Friday, May 14, 2010 12:00 am

 

The devastating oil spill off the Gulf Coast ignites new, compelling arguments for weaning our nation from dependence on oil, and fast-tracking the development of clean, green energy alternatives.

 

Unfortunately, even if we won universal support for banning new drilling off our coasts, under current contracts, oil developers are under no obligation to shut down existing operations.

 

By law, they will be able to continue drilling until the last drop of oil is extracted or spilled, or until the aging platforms and rigs deteriorate and fall apart — leaving our coastlines dangerously vulnerable far into the unforeseeable future.

 

At least, that’s the way it has always been until an unprecedented agreement was reached in Santa Barbara County between environmental groups and the Plains Exploration & Production Co., known as PXP.

 

In exchange for the ability to slant-drill up to 30 new shafts from an existing platform off the coast of Vandenberg AFB, PXP agreed to shut down existing oil production from three offshore platforms in nine years, and a fourth platform in 13 years, and to safely dismantle and remove the infrastructure.

No new oil platforms would be built under this plan. Instead, for the first time ever, oil production from existing platforms would be shut down permanently off the coast of Santa Barbara, thus ending the threat of oil spills from those platforms, and clearing a new path for negotiating end-dates for oil production from other existing platforms.

 

In addition to setting end-dates on drilling, PXP agreed to donate for public use 3,700 acres of land, including parcels on the Gaviota Coast, and to contribute $1.5 million for local transit.

 

This amazing agreement was negotiated by the Environmental Defense Center (EDC) acting on behalf of two local environmental groups, Get Oil Out and the Citizens Planning Association. These well-known and highly respected organizations have been fighting to protect our coast from offshore oil development since the 1969 Santa Barbara Channel spill.

 

Dozens of other environmental organizations, including the Santa Barbara County Action Network (SBCAN), enthusiastically supported this agreement. We see this as a prototype for ending oil drilling off our coasts and applaud EDC for this farsighted effort.

 

If approved by the State Lands Commission, this would be a win/win for everyone, since the project is estimated to bring the state $100 million annually in badly needed tax revenue.

 

Unfortunately, not all environmental advocates see the far-reaching benefits of an agreement that establishes end-dates on oil drilling and the removal of four platforms. Instead, their short-sighted focus remains on the increased production that would take place at one existing platform.

 

Last year, the Land Commission withheld its approval of the project, stating specific objections. Since then, EDC and PXP have worked to strengthen the agreement to address the commissioners’ concerns. Hopes had been high that the commission would give its approval this year.

 

Those hopes are nearly dashed, now that Gov. Schwarzenegger, in light of the Gulf spill, has withdrawn his approval of any new drilling, even from an existing platform with a set end-date on future drilling. With one of his appointees and newly installed Lt. Gov. Maldonado sitting on the three-member commission, prospects for approval are dim. In view of this, PXP is expected to pull the project.

 

While the tragic spill in the Gulf dramatically highlights the fact that even state-of-the-art technology is not spill-proof, it also reinforces the fact that even with a moratorium on future oil drilling, until we negotiate end-dates on existing operations, none of our coasts is safe.

 

The agreement reached between EDC and PXP created a clear path for negotiating those needed end-dates. If only our public representatives were clear-sighted and far-sighted enough to see the wisdom of that effort, and follow their lead.

 

Posted in Editorial on Friday, May 14, 2010 12:00 am