California Legislature Believes our Beaches are Worth Protecting

In contrast to Florida (see below), the CA State Assembly appropriately celebrated Earth Day when Assemblymember Pedro Nava (D-Santa Barbara) and Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) led California's strong legislative opposition to expansion of off-shore oil drilling. The California State Assembly approved Nava's Assembly Joint Resolution 3.

"My colleagues in the Legislature sent a strong message on behalf of all Californians, that we do not want increased offshore oil and gas drilling and demand reinstatement of the federal moratorium," said Nava. "Not only is this an environmental issue, but is also an economic one. Almost a million jobs and billions of dollars are created and produced by coastal recreation, tourism and the fishing industry. Our coast must be protected for future generations."

"Drilling off California's coast is a bad idea," said Assemblymember Noreen Evans. "All the oil off our coast would supply our nation with enough gas for only 17 months and would have no effect on gas prices. But it would cost us far more in lost tourism and risk another oil spill. That's a price Californian's don't want to pay." Assembly Joint Resolution 3 by Assemblymember Pedro Nava and Assemblymember Noreen Evans requests that the Congress of the United States reinstate the federal offshore oil and gas leasing moratorium for the 2009 fiscal year and beyond. The measure also memorializes the Legislature's opposition to the proposed expansion of oil and gas drilling off the Pacific Coast and any federal energy policies and legislation that would weaken California's role in energy siting decisions.