Salazar, Nava Stand Up to Big Oil

In separate actions yesterday, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and California Assemblymember Pedro Nava put out clear signals that neither the federal government nor the State of California are willing to roll over and give the oil companies whatever they ask for, which has too often been at the expense of both our environment and our economy.



Salazar's reforms, which affect drilling on public lands and offshore, mean the Bureau of Land Management no longer will simply accept oil and gas industry nominations when the agency is compiling a list of parcels to be offered at auction. New policies will mean BLM officials will conduct on-the-ground analyses of parcels for potential resource conflicts before they are listed for leasing. This will allow more organizations and individuals with wildlife, cultural-resource and environmental concerns to provide information that could counter industry interests. Predictably, oil companies howled. Secretary Salazar responded: "Under the previous administration, the oil and gas companies were essentially kings of the world, with Interior their handmaiden. Those from the industry who are crying out are simply crying because we are being thoughtful and supporting development in the right way and the right places."



In California, Assemblymember Nava introduced the Oil Industry Fair Share Act, which will establish an oil severance tax of 10% on the gross value of each barrel of crude oil pumped by companies in California. This tax will provide more than $1.5 billion in revenue to the General Fund annually. “California oil companies are getting a free ride. Right now, California is the only major oil producing state that does not charge a severance tax on oil extraction. It is time for California to catch up with Alaska, Texas, Alabama, and Arkansas. We need to collect the people’s share of this revenue source by forcing Big Oil to pay its fair share,” said Nava.

Promises of jobs, revenues from offshore drilling just don't add up (FL)
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/jan/04/scott-maddox-promises-of-jobs-revenues-from-just/

A day at the beach (FL)
http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100102/OPINION01/912319928/1017
Perhaps the only way to stop this headlong rush to drill is if enough Floridians stand up and say "no way!" Toward that end, a coalition of environmental, local government and business groups are organizing what amounts to a mass day at the beach this coming Feb. 13. The idea behind the "Hands across the sand" campaign is to try to line Florida beaches with drilling opponents. At 1:30 p.m., participants will "hold hands creating human lines in the sand protesting oil drilling in Florida's waters," according to organizers. "This is a simple, nonpartisan way for Floridians to join hands in an effort to protect our state's most important asset — our waterways and beaches," says Dave Rauschkolb, a Seaside business owner who came up with the idea. "Our goal is to convince legislators and Gov. Charlie Crist to drop the folly of offshore oil drilling." Would legislators take notice if tens of thousands of Floridians joined hands on Feb. 13 to protect Florida's beaches? We hope so, right now they only seem to be taking notice of Big Oil's money and influence.

McDonnell: no delay in offshore exploration (VA)
http://www.newsobserver.com/business/local_state/story/260191.html
Also see http://www.wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=1853594

Those elusive oil royalties: It's far too early to get pumped up about the dubious rewards of offshore drilling (VA)
http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/3749290

Moratorium on drilling in Oregon waters expires today (Jan 2)http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2010/01/moratorium_on_drilling_in_oreg.html

Schwarzenegger to seek federal help for California budget
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-budget23-2009dec23,0,7164018.story?track=rss
“One new source of revenue in the budget: Schwarzenegger will revive a plan to allow offshore oil drilling from an existing platform off the Santa Barbara coast. The proposal was so controversial during last summer's budget debate that after the Assembly voted down the plan, members expunged the vote, erasing it from the public record.”

On a related note, we thought it would be interesting to point out this text from the Schwarzenegger administration' s California Ocean Action Strategy (2004):

"Eliminate Adverse Impacts of Offshore Oil and Gas Development. The Schwarzenegger Administration will continue to defend California’s right and duty to protect the California coast from the impacts of new offshore oil and gas leasing, exploration, or development on the federal Outer Continental Shelf and will encourage the federal government to seek a settlement to extinguish the 36 leases off the California Coast."

Environmentalists: Why T-Ridge is a Bad Deal (CA)

http://www.calbuzz.com/2009/12/why-t-ridge-offshore-oil-project-is-a-bad-deal/

Offshore Arctic Oil Spills Not so Easy to Clean up, Study Finds
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/offshore-arctic-oil-spills-not,1100224.shtml

Top 10 stories of 2009: Argument over drilling on the OCS
http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=11714762

Why Some Enviros Back T-Ridge Oil Project (CA)
http://www.calbuzz.com/2009/12/why-some-enviros-back-t-ridge-oil-project/

The Environmental Impacts of Offshore Oil Drilling
http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ829741&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ829741

Offshore Oil Drilling - Not the Answer in Oregon

In Oregon, Rep. Ben Cannon, chairman of the House Environment and Water Committee, says he’ll ask the Legislature in its February session to renew the state’s oil-drilling moratorium and turn it into a permanent ban. Portland-based Environment Oregon and Surfrider Foundation's Oregon chapters support this action.

Cannon stated that there’s not enough oil and gas in Oregon coastal waters to risk marring the state’s fishing and tourism industries, and the state is promoting wave energy as a cleaner, renewable energy source. “As far as Oregon is concerned, it’s just a poor economic use of our ocean,” Cannon says of oil drilling.

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A Terrible Place to Drill for Oil

The following is from an article by Greg Haegele, Deputy Executive Director, Sierra Club and Athan Manuel, Director of the Sierra Club Public Lands Protection Program.

Image credit: Beehive Collective, Art Not Oil.

The Chukchi Sea is a terrible place to drill for oil, both because of its ecological importance and because it would be incredibly difficult to remove and transport any oil found in the region. Remote and pristine, the Chukchi Sea provides important habitat for threatened polar bears and endangered whales. The area Shell has leased is 80 miles off shore, in waters frozen solid most of the year and only open when the ice breaks up from July to mid-October. Worse, the Chukchi's churning sea ice would make it impossible to clean up an oil spill.

Shell's pursuit of oil in the Chukchi Sea simply doesn't make sense. Right now, the rest of the world is working together to end our dependence on fossil fuels and move into the clean energy economy. But Shell is continuing to blindly pursue its desperate search for oil - even in a place as unpromising and risky as Alaska's Chukchi Sea.

Drilling in the Chukchi Sea is a foolish move on Shell's part. We shouldn't allow the company to destroy important Arctic habitat in the pursuit of its outdated pipe dream. It's time to stop chasing every drop of oil on the planet and start focusing on clean energy instead.

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Eskimos and conservationists challenge Beaufort Sea drilling http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2009/12/eskimos-and-conservationists-challenge-beaufort-sea-drilling.html

Shell Oil Beaufort Sea Drilling Plans Challenged
http://climateofourfuture.org/shell-oil-beaufort-sea-drilling-plans-challenged/

Delegation hears the pros and cons of drilling (FL)http://www.bradenton.com/news/story/1918423.html