The chant that came to define the McCain-Palin campaign’s energy policy during the 2008 U.S. presidential race may no longer be just a slogan to rouse the faithful for those who live near Santa Barbara, California.
1969 Santa Barbara Oil Spill
In reaching an agreement Monday night to address the State of California’s $26 billion budget deficit, “Democrats agreed to Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s request to expand drilling from an existing platform off Santa Barbara,” according to the AP. The plan would “generate a one-time $100 million advance royalty payment this fiscal year and an estimated $1.8 billion in royalties over 14 years.”
Surprisingly, given the history of the area (see below) and California’s 40-year ban against drilling on state lands, not all environmentalists and residents are against the plan, contending that modern drilling methods minimize the risk of catastrophic spills such as occurred in 1969.
Others see the plan as taking advantage of the State’s economic crisis and a backdoor means to pave the way for new and broader off-shore drilling. Indeed, the plan grants authority for approving oil leases to a newly created panel, and away from the State Lands Commission where it was previously held.
In reaching the budget agreement, state leaders, unwilling or unable to raise taxes in the eighth-richest state per capita in the US, are calling for drastic cuts in many state services, including education, social services and welfare. Currently, the State is so short of cash it is issuing IOUs in lieu of some payments and forcing state workers to take unpaid days off. In order to meet a $1.2 billion reduction in the state prision budget, an estimated 20,000 prisoners may have to be released prior to completing their sentences.
In reality, however, the $100 million to be gained by drilling off the coast of Santa Barbara represents a mere 0.4 percent of the State’s budget shortfall.
The Supreme Irony of Drilling in Santa Barbara
It is almost beyond ironic that California should authorize the expansion of drilling now, considering that this year marks the 40th anniversary of the January 1969, Santa Barbara Oil Spill — to that point, the largest environmental disaster in the U.S. The impact of that event was so severe and the public outcry so intense that the incident is broadly credited with the birth of the US environmental movement.
The cause of the spill was a blowout at a Union Oil Company platform six miles off the coast, in the Santa Barbara Channel. During the attempt to repair the damage, a build-up of pressure beneath the surface caused five ruptures in a fault line beneath the ocean floor, releasing 200,000 gallons of crude oil and creating an 800 square-mile oil slick.
The oil was so thick upon the water that waves reaching shore reportedly made no sound. The tides brought dead seals and dolphins, whose clogged blowholes caused their lungs to hemorrhage. Countless fish and marine invertebrates perished. Diving birds were soaked with oil while shore birds fled. A massive volunteer effort attempted to rescue oil-soaked birds from beaches and bring them to emergency treatment centers. Even so, less than 30 percent of the birds that were treated survived.
The following quotes offer three different but telling perspectives of the incident.
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. What is involved is the use of our resources of the sea and of the land in a more effective way and with more concern for preserving the beauty and the natural resources that are so important to any kind of society that we want for the future. The Santa Barbara incident has frankly touched the conscience of the American people. — U.S. President Richard Nixon
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.  — John McKinney, nature writer and cleanup-volunteer
I don’t like to call it a disaster… I am amazed at the publicity for the loss of a few birds. — Fred L. Hartley, president of Union Oil Co.
Forty years later, and we’re expanding drilling in the birthplace of the environmental movement. Anyone who thinks that politics don’t affect them, that their vote doesn’t count, or that the forces aligned against environmentalism aren’t serious needs to think again.
The agreement goes before the legislature tomorrow. If you live in California, get on the phone to your elected officials and tell them what you think.
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