Last Friday, I visited an oil drilling platform, known as “Irene,” five miles off the Coast of Santa Barbara County. I had a chance to witness first-hand the good work that goes on here to supply energy to American families.
Irene is part of the Tranquillon Ridge Project, which would allow one of California’s leading oil and natural gas producers, Plains Exploration & Production Co., to access oil and gas reserves located beneath California state waters.
The project is a win-win for the environment and the economy:
• PXP will convey approximately 3,900 acres of land to The Trust for Public Land, including approximately 3,700 acres adjacent to the Burton Mesa Ecological Reserve in the Lompoc Valley and up to 200 acres on the Gaviota Coast. These lands will be permanently protected for open space and public access.
• The T-Ridge project will include a legally enforceable “end date” which ends all PXP’s offshore oil production on four platforms and removes the associated onshore support facilities.
• By limiting the life of the platform operations, the T-Ridge “end date” significantly reduces the risk of an oil spill and protects California’s precious coastline and natural resources.
• All Greenhouse Gas emissions from the T-Ridge project will be mitigated or offset resulting in carbon neutrality.
• $1.5 million will be donated for technology to reduce Greenhouse Gases from transit vehicles in Santa Barbara County.
Furthermore, because all of the necessary facilities are in place, PXP does not have to build any new offshore or onshore facilities or pipelines for this project.
As for the economy, PXP has committed to advance $100 million immediately to California’s General Fund. Up to $4 billion in state revenue could be generated over the next 14 years, depending on oil prices. Of course, jobs creation is another positive aspect of the project.
The California Senate approved the plan, but unfortunately the majority party that controls the California Assembly members has declined to partner with the Tranquillon Ridge Project based on extreme environmentalist philosophies – even though groups like the Sierra Club and The Ocean Conservancy gave testimony in support of the project at a January 2009 State Lands Commission hearing.
But don’t think that’s stopping off-shore drilling on the California coast; PXP is certainly drilling – but in federal waters, which means Washington D.C. receives the revenues from the bubbling crude, not Sacramento.
At a time when California’s coffers could use a boost; when Americans clearly continue to rely on fossil fuels and when Democratic nations desperately need to distance themselves from rogue oil-producing nations, we can’t afford to turn our backs on the Tranquillon Ridge Project.
December 8th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Let us see how this works…
Take tax money from Washinton politicans importing “liberal confiscated capital” for current bloated union and government expenses.
Without domestic oil drilling we do not ” generate new private capital” for more private investment, jobs, taxes, community preservation.
Don’t you love flakee liberals….pass the organic herbed tofu, free range chicken and that scrumptous Nan.
December 10th, 2009 at 12:00 am
To get Big Oil Drilling money into our state coffers we merely need to approve Pedro Nava’s proposal for an oil severence tax.
To tout this PXP-Tranquillon deal as a win-win is a leap of faith our state cannot afford to take… Federal Minerals Management Service has not agreed to enforcement of the end dates. PXP only controls one of the four platforms proposed to be decommissioned. They do not control the land in Gaviota and there are further title questions. Additionally, the threat of spills and blow-outs will be compounded just off Santa Barbara’s magnificent beaches, putting tourism, fisheries, recreation, and coastal environment in the path of more harm. Ask residents of the Kimberley Coast off Australia about the perils of offshore drilling after their three-month-leaking blowout this year. For these reasons, State Lands, the Attorney General, and the Legislature rejected this ill-advised deal repeatedly.
By investing our resources in renewable energy, we are planning for a greener, sustainable future. Tranquillon Ridge as a budget salve is a joke compared to the risks. Alaska, Texas, Arkansas, Florida, all of the oil producing states have an oil severance tax. Time to require Big Oil to pay their fair share while we plan to reduce greenhouse gases and create a new green economy. NO PXP!
Jack Eidt
Wild Heritage Planners