50 cents a barrel. That's all it would take to raise 100 million dollars a year for the State of California. Instead of asking the oil companies to pony up what amounts to the price of a daily newspaper per barrel of oil, the Governor wants to approve the first new offshore oil drilling lease in California state waters since the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill.
In 2008 Exxon Mobil had $45.2 billion in profits and Chevron posted a record profit of $18.7 billion. Don't you think they would spend 50 cents a barrel to help California out?
According to the Department of Conservation, California currently produces nearly 217 million barrels of oil annually. Rather than threaten our coastal economy, the oil companies could pay fifty cents ($0.50) a barrel of oil and help all Californians.
In January of 2009, the independent State Lands Commission (SLC) rightfully denied the first new lease in California waters (confidential PXP proposal) since the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill. Unhappy with the vote, our "Environmental" Governor is asking the Legislature to ignore the SLC decision, to turn over the power to approve offshore oil drilling to his Department of Finance and to force new drilling as a part of the state budget. The Governor's proposal does not have to contain any aspects of the confidential PXP agreement.
"The Governor's proposal usurps existing law and public review and demands that some new oil drilling project should go forward regardless of the fact that it is fatally flawed," said Assemblymember Nava. "This sets a dangerous precedent by placing money over environmental protection. The Governor's proposal, like the confidential PXP deal itself, is fatally flawed."
This end run around the State Lands Commission is a "first" since its formation in 1938. Every major environmental organization, including those previously in support of PXP, is opposed to this budget scheme and almost all worry about enforceability.
"The oil company has essentially offered to loan $100 million to California in exchange for granting the first new oil drilling lease in California since the Santa Barbara oil spill 40 years ago," said Lt. Governor John Garamendi, Chair of the State Lands Commission. "This would be a clear signal to the federal administration that California is willing to issue new oil drilling leases off the California coast opening the door for the federal government to drill baby drill. California should be a leader in renewable energy production, not a producer of a polluting product best left in the 20th century."
