One of the most potent objections to the Republicans’ drilling zealotry has been to remind Americans of the devastation that resulted from the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill. As Van Jones explained in his talk with David Dayen, the fight against drilling is a fight FOR jobs and the economy and Santa Barbara knows this well. When oil drenches the beaches, kids get sick, service industry jobs that the already-struggling Santa Barbara working class depends upon vanish, and the overall economy suffers. Which is why Santa Barbara County has led the fight against offshore drilling for the last 40 years.
Until now. The rapid growth of Santa Maria, in the northern part of the county, has shifted the county’s political demography. North county conservatives now control the Board of Supervisors 3-2. And even though they voted last year to reaffirm their support of the offshore drilling ban, Santa Barbara’s role as the poster child for drilling’s consequences has led them to change their minds. As the LA Times reports, the Republican majority is expected to vote to support drilling:
Nearly 40 years after a disastrous oil spill off the Santa Barbara coast galvanized the nation and gave birth to the modern environmental movement, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors is poised to vote Tuesday in support of offshore drilling…
But Tuesday’s vote is as much about the tension between inland and the coast as it is about the price of a barrel of crude. Population and political power have been shifting away from the more liberal coast, and the board of supervisors has a conservative, pro-industry majority for the first time in about a decade.
The result: An expected 3-2 vote to support increased oil drilling off the same beaches that were coated in crude and covered with the corpses of birds, seals and dolphins after 3 million gallons of oil leaked from an offshore drilling site in 1969.
As you can see by the lede, the LA Times is dutifully buying into the Republican game plan – if you can show America that even Santa Barbara supports drilling, then your cause is boosted that much more strongly. The devil’s in the details, of course – the Supervisors that actually represent the coast support the ban, and the 3 who will vote against the ban are from inland areas. They’re playing their part in the grand Republican plan quite effectively.
At the same time they’re going against the economic needs of their constituents. The rapid growth of Santa Maria is driven by housing costs – it’s more affordable for workers whose jobs are on the coast to live in Santa Maria and commute down 101 to Santa Barbara. If drilling is renewed, it WILL lead to more oil spills, and Santa Maria residents will suffer. And for what? So that oil companies can sell the oil on the global market.
As David Dayen and Van Jones agreed earlier today, Democrats need to fight back on economic terms. Santa Barbara County residents need permanent alternatives to high gas prices, they need good jobs, and they need affordable housing. Santa Barbara County residents would be signing an economic death warrant by backing new drilling, regardless of which side of the mountains they live on.