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California Leaders Loath To Resume Coastal Drilling

Posted on: Thursday, 26 June 2008, 12:00 CDT

President Bush's recommendation to Congress to lift the moratorium on new offshore oil drilling has been widely criticized by elected officials in California.

Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, whose coastal district includes San Luis Obispo County and much of the state's coastline with existing oil leases, was quick to criticize the president's recommendation and the pro-drilling stance of Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain.

Capps wants the ban on new coastal drilling upheld and more emphasis placed on enhanced efficiency and alternative energy sources.

Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and U. S. Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein also criticized lifting the moratorium.

However, Rep. Kevin Mc- Carthy, R-Bakersfield, whose 22nd District includes much of inland San Luis Obispo County, supports offshore oil exploration and has co-sponsored legislation that would remove the moratorium.

"Instead of walking away from solutions and pleading with Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and other OPEC oil countries to sell us more oil, we should instead move forward with solutions that can lower gas prices by increasing production of American energy," he said.

McCarthy says he supports increased domestic oil production using newer technology that is environmentally safer and more reliable. Such production would also boost the economy, he said.

With Democrats in Congress opposed to drilling, Bush said their opposition is "outdated and counterproductive" and that it "helped drive gas prices to their current level."

McCain made support for lifting the ban the centerpiece of a major energy speech last week in Houston.

Last year Boxer, Feinstein and Capps re-introduced a bill that would put a permanent ban on offshore drilling. Boxer, who heads the Senate's environment committee, said McCain had "joined the president's bandwagon."

Opposition to offshore oil in San Luis Obispo County began to grow following a large oil spill in the Santa Barbara Channel in 1969. In the 1980s, county voters passed several anti-oil ballot initiatives.

The Interior Department estimates that as much as 19 billion barrels worth of oil remains untapped in coastal areas currently off-limits to drillers.

Source: The Tribune

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