The PXP Tranquillion Ridge Oil Project is far from over. While the first new drilling project since the spill was voted down during the budget fight, Assembly Minority Leader Blakeslee has brought it back through the oh so amazing gut and amend process. AB 1536, which used to be a bill pertaining to the Public Utilities Commission has been morphed into an oil drilling bill authorizing the Tranquillion Ridge Project.
Now, PXP, the company that wants to explore the ridge, has been doing a bunch of polling showing some level of support for the bill. Pedro Nava, he of the sentencing commission flip-flop, has been on something of a quixotic quest for PXP’s polling data
While we already have oil drilling off our coast (it’s true, drive down the 101 some time), the idea of new drilling isn’t all that popular amongst many environmentalists. But, support for oil drilling off our coast, whether we like it or not has been growing. PXP actually has a poll out on it right now. They aren’t releasing all of their data, and this is causing Asm. Pedro Nava much angst. For some reason he has chosen the question of polling to pursue as his quixotic quest, instead of the underlying issue. I kind of think selective release of polling data stinks, but it is not like his campaign for AG has released all of their polling. (Speaking of, Asm. Nava, did you poll the sentencing commission?) But the real question is how we manage the growth of the oil rigs and how we actually protect our coast.
The Tranquillion Ridge Project actually originally had the support of many of the Santa Barbara environmental groups, so it is hardly out of the realm of possibility that support could re-emerge. But if this gets done, it needs to be a) ensured that there are the strictest safety & environmental standards and b) that we get something really good for this.
I’m thinking oil severance. I know the idea of new drilling won’t be popular, and I get that, but if it is going to be shoved down our throats anyway when Garamendi is replaced on the State Lands Commission, how about we take advantage of the situation. I kind of doubt that we’ll be able to get oil severance for all drilling, but how about we get it for at least this drilling project and set a precedent for the future.
I haven’t really thought this all the way through, so feel free to ridicule the idea. But it is worth some consideration.
I don’t like the idea of any more drilling, but if we have to drill, the state can at least stop being the only state stupid enough to let polluters drill without being taxed. Great idea!
PXP’s poll basically asked “do you want to drill off the coast to provide energy independence?” Nava is rightly annoyed because the poll didn’t explain the environmental impact, or the fact that no amount of drilling offshore could possibly come close to having any impact on the amount of oil we import or the price we pay for it.
PXP is shopping that poll around the Capitol pretty heavily in an effort to force Assembly Dems to change their votes and support the bill. They had Sam Blakeslee sponsor the new bill, whose district includes the shoreline closest to the proposed rig, instead of Chuck DeVore from inland Orange County.
So Nava’s pushback on the poll is sensible and necessary, even if it’s not going to stop the drilling all on its own.
The comparison to the existing rigs in the Santa Barbara Channel is also flawed. Tranquillon Ridge would be in a totally new part of the ocean, and if/when there is a spill, it would befoul some of the last and most unspoiled parts of the California coast.
Finally, anyone who thinks this isn’t part of a broader strategy to wedge open the entire coast to drilling is nuts. Santa Barbara enviros are getting played here.