It’s really beyond the point of tolerance for Bush Dog Jim Costa, who represents the district with the worst well-being in America for its residents. As Republicans dishonestly try to bully Democrats with their meaningless “Drill Now” chant, despite the fact that offshore drilling wouldn’t lower gas prices and would do nothing to secure the energy future of the nation, Costa has joined up with a bipartisan group seeking a “compromise” (read: giving in to Republican fantasies) on energy.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers seeking to craft a compromise on energy legislation includes politically vulnerable members, according to a partial list of members obtained by The Hill.
Reps. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) and John Peterson (R-Pa.), who organized the group, have kept the list of participants under wraps since the recent announcement of its formal launch.
Abercrombie and Peterson previously indicated the complete list of members would be released last week but later reconsidered, saying certain members could be face political problems if their names were released.
Reps. John Tanner (D-Tenn.), Gene Green (D-Texas), Nancy Boyda (D-Kan.), Nick Lampson (D-Texas), Jim Costa (D-Calif.), Dan Boren (D-Okla.) and Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) are part of the group, according to the list.
The group met on Wednesday […]
The bill that is being crafted breaks significantly from Democratic leadership on the topic of offshore drilling.
Boren, Costa, Green, Lampson and Nunes twice voted no on the Democratic leadership’s “use it or lose it” energy drilling bill.
It’d be one thing if Costa were actually a “vulnerable member,” but his “opponent” this year, Jim Lopez, has no records with the FEC, hasn’t updated his campaign website in a month and a half and hasn’t had an event in the district since March. Costa is about as vulnerable as Iron Man. So one must conclude that he plans to sell out the Democratic Party on energy as a matter of principle.
It is completely absurd to open up the Outer Continental Shelf to drilling when there are over 60 million acres of leased public land lying fallow. The last people with any interest in lowering gas prices are oil execs; they want offshore leases so they can keep them in reserve and tell their stockholders how much cash they’re sitting on. So Costa simply wants to enrich oil company bigwigs at the expense of the middle class, and ignore the serious risk to the planet in stalling on departing from the failed energy policy of the past. This man shouldn’t dare even call himself a Democrat after the work he’s done in the 110th Congress.
Today Americans United for Change, the progressive advocacy group that is visiting districts throughout the country on the “Bush Legacy Tour,” hammered David Dreier for being a tool to Big Oil and special interests. From their release:
With gas prices above $4, Americans United for Change, the progressive issue-advocacy group that recently launched its national Bush Legacy Bus tour, blasted Rep. David Drier today for standing in the way of lower gas prices for California families by voting against meaningful legislation to release 70 million barrels of light, sweet crude oil from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve into the open market and replace it with heavy, sour oil that is tougher to refine – a move that has historically brought down gas prices and strengthened our national security.
The SPR has been tapped or suspended before by the current President Bush, President Clinton, and the first President Bush and each time oil has been released the impact on prices has been dramatic and immediate. For example, in 1991, oil prices immediately dropped by 33 percent. The 2000 exchange drove oil prices down by 19 percent. And the release by President Bush in 2005 resulted in a 9 percent drop.
“With gas prices hovering above $4 a gallon, Rep. Dreier was given a chance today bring real relief now to California families forced to make incredible sacrifices choosing between bills, gas, and food,” said Caren Benjamin, for Americans United for Change. “But without apology or question, Congressman Dreier chose to put his loyalty to Bush and his addiction to big oil cash ahead of relief for struggling Californians.”
I don’t know if the “Free Our Oil” campaign and focusing on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is the most effective message, but clearly somebody has to show some leadership on the energy front. Contrary to popular beliefs, Democrats are NOT being pushed out of this debate. In a recent poll by The Wilderness Society, the public is split on the question of drilling or protecting arctic lands and offshore areas, and they believe 76%-19% that the best way to secure our energy future is to invest in new technologies and renewable sources rather than continue to drill. In addition, by a 63%-31% score, those polled believe that the President’s proposal to open up ANWR and the Outer Continental Shelf to drilling “is more likely to enrich oil companies than to lower gas prices for American consumers.” That’s why it’s so crucial for AUFC to note that David Dreier has taken $129,400 in contributions from oil company executives over the years.
There’s starting to be some real pushback on this “drill now” blather. The Democrats put forward this SPR bill today and most Republicans took the bait of voting against it. Jimmy Hoffa Jr. of the Teamsters, in a real game-changer of a move, came out with a very strong statement rejecting “drilling our way out” of this crisis, and demanding long-term energy solutions. Democratic Congressional candidate John Boccieri from Ohio made this amusing Web video to mock his opponent’s reliance on drilling:
And just to your left, CA-46’s Debbie Cook has put together a comprehensive 10-point plan to realize Al Gore’s vision of receiving 100% of our electricity from renewables by 2018.
There’s work to be done – by candidates, policy wonks, advocacy groups, and regular people – but together we can beat back these shortsighted solutions and expose those who want to wed our energy needs to the failures of the past.
Obama wasn’t even done shaking hands before the McCain surrogates were working the room. Bob Pacheco, California Statewide Latino Coalition Chair for Sen. McCain and Hector Barajas, Communications Director for the CA GOP were both circling, Todd and I talked with Mr. Barajas about a number of issues. Nothing particularly new or revolutionary in here, but it was interesting to see how quickly they were on it and how strictly the talking points were churned out.
He termed universal health care to be “radical” and wants to know how Obama plans to pay for it (of course this hasn’t been an issue for GOP leadership who just pays on credit for everything) and pumped up the market-based healthcare solutions for small businesses. Tried to hammer Obama for voting to increase taxes on “people who make as low as $32,000.” A nice talking point, and a popular one lately, but entirely false of course:
* The resolution Obama voted for would not have increased taxes on any single taxpayer making less than $41,500 per year in total income, or any couple making less than $83,000. The $32,000 figure is approximately the taxable income of a single person making $41,500 per year, after all deductions and exclusions.
* Obama’s vote (for a non-binding budget bill) does not change the fact that his own tax plan would provide a tax cut of $502 for a non-married taxpayer earning $35,000.
Tied things back to California issues and politics, trotting out Villaraigosa, Karen Bass, Fabian Nunez, and Gil Cedillo as examples of inefficient Democratic leadership that spend and spend but get no results, particularly in education. He specifically cited the dropout rate of LA Unified as his proof, and mentioned that more than half the state budget goes to education without noting how desperately state GOP legislators want to make cuts. Sticks carefully to the percentages to avoid any talk of the declining raw amounts of money and the hopes to keep it in decline by the CRP. I can’t even begin to go into all the angles here, except that certainly Republicans are closing ranks on behalf of Dems if any help was needed. Top Clinton supporters being brought out as Obama boogeymen is certainly interesting.
Then the really fun stuff. John McCain is apparently MORE serious than ever about competing and winning in California. 7 offices are opened, 6 more opening this week with at least 3 more to follow (which would be 16 total. Obama currently has at least 18 statewide offices). 14 California staffers will likely be expanding to 21 in the near future. Why will this work so well? Apparently it’s because John McCain has unpopular proposals but the guts to talk about them. As an example, Barajas notes, McCain is willing to push more offshore drilling even though people object…apparently to the obstruction of their ocean views. “But what good is an ocean view if you can’t afford to drive to it?” On the pulse of the state.
Will CDP or Obama or both have people available tomorrow when McCain’s done? Hopefully. I’m kinda surprised nobody’s here today unless it’s just not even worth the effort for a foregone state.
[Update] It’s particularly interesting that the spin focused so heavily on Los Angeles. The struggles of LA Unified were pinned on a number of LA-based Latino Democrats which presumably wouldn’t have much of a national profile- such as Nunez and Cedillo. Pretty naked attempt to specifically undermine Latino Dem leadership, but the scorched earth style- that Latino leadership period is failing the greater Latino community seems like it’s on the edge of being really insulting. It isn’t like these folks got elected by…not Latinos. So the spin boils down to “Latinos elected Latinos who screwed over Latinos so don’t listen to the bad public servants that you elected to represent and serve you.” I guess in the absence of an effective strategy, anything will do…
[Update] Todd has his recap up now which reminded me of another gem: That McCain will play well in California because he’s a Western Senator. I can’t for the life of me imagining a single person that I know in California thinking “You know who really gets me and my needs? Arizonans.” It’s just…not something that rings likely.
(Some strategy McCain has to win over California… – promoted by Lucas O’Connor)
Sen. John McCain will be appearing tomorrow morning with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at an “environmental roundtable” in Santa Barbara. Yes, that would be the same Santa Barbara where a 1969 ecological disaster shocked the nation, leading to the birth of the environmental movement.
That’s right. Sen. McCain is either so tone-deaf or just astonishingly arrogant that he thinks he can come to the scene of the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, demand an end to the federal moratorium on offshore drilling, and simultaneously paint himself as a champion of the environment.
Of course, all he’ll really succeed in doing is painting himself into a corner. You see, McCain has to try to defend a position that creates virtually no relief from escalating gas prices (up 273% during the Bush Administration), lines the pockets of oil companies and speculators, and subjects the nation’s coastlines to incredible environmental peril. And, to top things off, he has to explain why he’s suddenly in favor of ending the drilling moratorium despite his long-held position in favor of the drilling moratorium.
Tickets to this feat of derring-do are apparently still available at McCain’s website (one per email address), should you be in the area and wish to bear witness to McCain’s pandering. Please see the end of the post for details of planned protests.
Sen. McCain has given us ample evidence that he’s willing to sacrifice his scruples in his quest for the presidency. Just last month he was calling for a gas tax holiday. Now he’s twisted his principles into a pretzel to support a new gimmick that he hopes will hoodwink the American people. The only problem is that this one won’t work either.
According to an article in today’s SF Chronicle, lifting the offshore drilling moratorium would do nothing to ease the price of gas at the pumps:
The U.S. Energy Information Administration predicted last year that if the moratorium were lifted, it would take until 2012 to start leasing the areas and until 2017 before oil began to flow. The agency estimated that U.S. oil production would increase by 7 percent — about 200,000 barrels a day — by 2030, which it said would have an “insignificant” impact on oil prices.
According to the same article, even his GOP sidekick in California is insightful enough to disagree with McCain’s stance on the moratorium:
“California’s coastline is an international treasure,” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said last week, explaining why he opposed his ally McCain’s bid to end the drilling ban.
In the meantime, while McCain is trying to peddle smoke and mirrors, Sen. Barack Obama has announced plans which could lead to immediate relief at the gas pumps:
Sen. Barack Obama on Sunday said as president he would strengthen government oversight of energy traders he blames in large part for the skyrocketing price of oil.
The Democratic candidate’s campaign singled out the so-called “Enron loophole” for allowing speculators to run up the cost of fuel by operating outside federal regulation. Oil closed near $135 a barrel on Friday – almost double the price a year ago.
“My plan fully closes the Enron loophole and restores commonsense regulation as part of my broader plan to ease the burden for struggling families today while investing in a better future,” Obama said in a campaign statement. […] Obama’s campaign said the candidate would go further by requiring that U.S. energy futures be traded on regulated exchanges.
Obama also would ask the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to consider whether traders should be subject to higher margin requirements. He also would work with other countries to regulate energy markets and press the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice to investigate possible market manipulation.
And not a single dolphin, seal or seabird would be harmed in the production of Obama’s gas price relief plan. Unfortunately, John McCain can’t say the same thing. Here’s the historical backdrop for McCain’s appearance in Santa Barbara tomorrow.
In January 1969, a Union Oil Company (now Unocal) drilling platform six miles off the coast of Santa Barbara suffered a blow-out. According to the LA Times, oil spewed out at the rate of 1,000 gallons/hour for over a month, with more than 3 million gallons fouling the environment before the pipe could be capped.
Eight hundred square miles of ocean were impacted, and 35 miles of coastline were coated with oil up to six inches thick. The oil muted the sound of the waves on the beach and the odor of petroleum was inescapable. The ecological impact was catastrophic.
Rescuers counted 3,600 dead ocean feeding seabirds and a large number of poisoned seals and dolphins were removed from the shoreline. The spilled oil killed innumerable fish and intertidal invertebrates, devastated kelp forests and displaced many populations of endangered birds.
The clean-up effort began almost immediately, with significant active participation from the local community. The damage was so intense and extensive that people of all age groups and political persuasions felt compelled to help in every way they could. On the beaches, piles of straw were used to absorb oil that washed on shore, contaminated beach sand was bulldozed into piles and trucked away. Skimmer ships gathered oil from the ocean surface, and volunteers rescued and cleaned tarred seabirds at a series of hastily set-up animal rescue stations, one of which was located at the Santa Barbara zoo.
While the popular backlash against the oil companies involved grew, the public discussion that was to have long term consequences for the nation started in earnest. For example:
President of Union Oil Co. Fred L. Hartley:
“I don’t like to call it a disaster, because there has been no loss of human life. I am amazed at the publicity for the loss of a few birds.”
Santa Barbara News Press Editor Thomas Storke:
“Never in my long lifetime have I ever seen such an aroused populace at the grassroots level. This oil pollution has done something I have never seen before in Santa Barbara – it has united citizens of all political persuasions in a truly nonpartisan cause.”
President Richard Nixon:
“It is sad that it was necessary that Santa Barbara should be the example that had to bring it to the attention of the American people … The Santa Barbara incident has frankly touched the conscience of the American people.”
Nature writer John McKinney:
“I had been impressed by the way energetic college students, shopkeepers, surfers, parents with their kids, all joined the beach clean-up. I saw a Montecito society matron transporting oily birds in her Mercedes.”
Twenty-seven years later, the White House Council on Environmental Quality issued a report that summed up the repercussions of the Santa Barbara oil spill:
“The federal government had largely ignored the need to protect commercial, recreational, aesthetic, and ecological values of the area.” With the damage caused by the oil spill the threshold had been crossed, and never again would environmental costs be seen in the same light.
The tangible long term outcomes that were the direct result or a consequence of the oil spill included at least the following:
A broad environmental grassroots movement was founded leading to the first, Earth Day in November of 1969.
Get Oil Out (GOO) collected 100,000 signatures for a petition to ban offshore drilling.
The Environmental Defense Center was founded and the first Environmental Studies program was started at UC Santa Barbara.
The California Coastal Commission was created from a statewide initiative. This commission today has powerful control over human activities that impact California’s coastal areas.
The State Land Commission banned offshore drilling for 16 years, until the Reagan Administration took office.
President Nixon signed the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, leading the way to the July 1970 establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency.
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) became law.
Since the days of the Santa Barbara oil spill, the ocean and coastal tourism and recreation industries in California have only grown — to the point where they now generate $12 billion a year and employ hundreds of thousands of people. John McCain would put all of that at risk just to advance his political ambitions. He has some nerve, indeed.
Here’s the information on planned activities:
WHERE: The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, 2559 Puesta del Sol Road (off of Los Olivos and just north of the Mission).
WHEN: Tomorrow, Tuesday, June 24, 2008.
TIME: Be outside the Museum at 8 am. The event starts at 9 am. People with tickets (available under “events” on the McCain website) have been told to arrive at 7:30 to clear security.
PARKING: Will probably be very limited, especially with security precautions in place. Consider parking at Rocky Nook Park or Women’s Club located across Mission, or in nearby neighborhoods, but please be careful when walking and please obey all traffic and other regulations. Do not trespass.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Please show up with placards, signs, or other expressions of your opposition to the Bush/McCain proposal and in favor of preserving our beaches, our environment, our ecosystem, our community, and our planet. It is an affront that this event would be held in Santa Barbara, the birthplace of our country’s environmental movement. We must send a clear message that drilling is not the answer to high fuel prices, especially with the catastrophic consequences the City of Santa Barbara and other U.S. communities have experienced.
MEDIA COVERAGE: Will probably be extensive, since a large contingent accompanies Senator McCain as he campaigns. Please direct those seeking interviews to representatives of the environmental groups who will be present, or the Obama campaign, or elected officials present. If you have a story to share based on your own personal experience, please use your best judgment in doing so.
When I first heard the reports of John McCain’s flip-flop on offshore oil exploration and consequent back-up from the President, I knew there was one person to call for comment: Debbie Cook. In addition to being the Mayor of Huntington Beach, Cook sits on the board of directors of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO) and is an expert on energy issues. She just sent me this statement (on the flip):
Democratic Congressional Candidate Debbie Cook’s statement on proposals to lift the ban on offshore oil drilling:
“There has been a lot of talk in the last couple of days about lifting the ban on drilling for oil along the coast. Dana Rohrabacher, John McCain and today President Bush have joined in a chorus of “drill, drill, drill,” as if that will solve our energy problems.
“Time is not on our side, and continuing to divert our attention away from the real problem is a disservice to our citizens and a failure of leadership.
“World oil production has been flat for three years. America’s oil refineries are configured to refine light sweet crude and are currently operating at 88% capacity and paying a premium for this short supply. There is no point for the Middle East, the only region that may have spare capacity, to increase production of heavy sour crudes until new refineries are built or existing refineries have been modified.
“Three fourths of the world’s oil and gas wells have already been drilled in North America. Our continent is so heavily explored that it looks like swiss cheese. Eighty percent of the oil available on the Outer Continental Shelf is already open to leasing and drilling. Will opening the remaining 20 percent make any difference when it takes 5-10 years to bring any new oil discoveries to market?
“Perhaps we should just call the President’s bluff, sell off the leases and then get on with the real work ahead of us, leaving fossil fuels before they leave us.
“The world economy depends upon the flow of oil, not the oil that remains in the ground. The fact is, more than 50 nations are now past their peak in oil production: Mexico, Norway, UK, USA, Russia, perhaps even Saudi Arabia to name a few. If you use ExxonMobil’s estimate for the decline rate from these existing wells (-6%), then from now until 2017, we need to find and develop 37 million barrels per day of additional crude production just to stay even with what we consume today. That assumes no growth in demand for oil. That is the equivalent of finding FOUR Saudi Arabias. Does anyone think we have overlooked resources of that size and quality?
“George Bush and Dana Rohrabacher’s failure to understand the fundamental economics and geology of oil and gas production is matched only by their failures as leaders.
“The true solution to our energy problems starts with conservation efforts, and investment in alternative and sustainable energy sources, which will create new American industries and jobs and jumpstart the sluggish economy.”
I want to add to this that oil companies have millions of acres of land with supposed oil deposits and untapped wells already under their control, but they’re not rushing to drill or explore them. Why? Because tracts that show up as “untapped oil reserves” are more profitable if they remain untapped. They inflate the stock price, the result of which goes directly into the execs’ wallets. And the corporations use them as an asset without having to actually see whether or not there is any oil in the deposits.
Bush and McCain say they want more drilling, but the oil companies don’t. They want more untapped reserves so they can pump up their balance sheets.
(Pombo was not pleased when Arnold announced his opposition to this bill, even going so far as to say that arnold didn’t read the bill and questioning the Governator’s intelligence. Pot: “Kettle, you’re black” – promoted by SFBrianCL)
Renewable energy expert, Jerry McNerney, has called on the US Senate to defeat any bill that would repeal the moratorium on offshore oil and gas drilling.
McNerney is the Democratic challenger in CA-11, where the infamous Republican Richard Pombo currently rules the district. Pombo spearheaded the House bill that will open our coasts to drilling. When moderate Republican Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) tried to add higher fuel efficiency to the bill, Pombo helped defeat the measure. Pombo is not interested in a sustainable and responsible energy plan — he is interested in serving his favorite industry, Big Oil.
In a February 2006 poll by the Public Policy Institute of California, 2 out of 3 Californians stated that they oppose any offshore drilling, including 46% of the state’s Republicans. Arnold Schwarzenegger also opposed the Pombo bill, but that didn’t stop Pombo from serving the industries that support his political career.
After the bill passed, McNerney issues a detailed press release calling on the US Senate to not pass a similar bill opening our coastlines to drilling:
“The bottom line is that we cannot drill our way to energy independence, and we can not continue to ignore the very real problem of global warming,” said McNerney. “As sea levels rise, the risk of levee failure and catastrophic flooding in the Delta increases greatly, and salt water intrusion promises to wreak havoc with local farmers and land values in the district. Pombo’s plan is not a sensible energy plan for our nation or this district.”
“Once again, you have to wonder just who it is that Mr. Pombo is representing in Congress. While gas prices were soaring in the spring, he was jetting down to Houston to attend a posh fundraiser held by oil industry lobbyists. And now, with gas prices still over $3 per gallon and district families and commuters still hurting, we have Pombo recklessly disregarding the opinions of the vast majority of the citizens of this state as he tries to pay back his big money contributors.”
In addition to being environmentally reckless, Pombo has also proven that he is willing to be financially reckless to get what he wants.
McNerney also noted that the Pombo-supported bill changes the formula for sharing oil and gas royalties between the federal government and the states, such that four states – Texas among them – would receive a windfall while the US Treasury would lose as much as $69 billion over a 15 year period, according to figures supplied by the US Department of the Interior. The Associated Press reported that the White House issued a statement strongly opposing this provision in the Pombo-backed bill, as it “would have a long-term impact on the federal deficit.”
McNerney stated that “Stripping out $69 billion of federal revenue without stating how this revenue will be made up is fiscal irresponsibility at its worst. Who will Mr. Pombo put a tax increase on to make up for this shortfall? What spending programs will he cut? Or is he proposing to simply just add this amount as a further debt burden on our children and grandchildren, in addition to leaving them with an overheated planet?”
“Our nation needs a real energy plan, of the kind I envision based on new energy technology and an emphasis on conservation, that will create real jobs in our district while reducing the burning of fossil fuels. This will mean less time wasted driving in our cars to far away jobs, and more time to spend with our families. It will mean cleaner air and our kids having less asthma and other associated health problems. And frankly, we need to begin now to reduce the threat of global warming and the devastating scenarios envisioned by reputable scientists who are concerned about the Delta and a substantial part of this district that sits just above sea level.”
You can take action in two ways:
First, you can email, fax, or call your senators and make it clear that you do not support any type of offshore drilling — regardless of how much Republicans attempt to bribe other members of Congress with promises of money. The US Senate could vote on this issue as soon as this week.
Second, go to Mark Warner’s MapChangers website and vote for Jerry McNerney. If you voted in previous rounds, you can vote again in this final round which ends at 12:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, July 11. If Jerry wins, Warner will host a fundraiser for him — and Jerry needs all the help he can get to compete with Pombo’s industry money. (Note: when you vote at MapChangers, be sure to click the Submit button to have your vote count).
Thanks for supporting people like Jerry McNerney — one of the innovative Democrats who can actually set us on a path to sustainability.
