Senator Mike McGuire’s office is creating legislation to ban oil and gas drilling off the coast of California. The SB 788 Coastal Protection Act will close a loophole that could allow oil and gas developments in coastal waters.
According to McGuire, the California’s coastal communities that could be damaged by an offshore oil spill contribute US$40 billion/year to the state’s economy and provide about 500,000 jobs. For example, California commercial fisheries bring in more than $7 billion/year and recreational fishing is worth $2 billion/year. The announcement coincides with Earth Day and the five-year anniversary of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill off the US Gulf coast.
Bill number SB 788 is an act to repeal Section 6244 of the Public Resources Code relating to coastal resources. The California Coastal Sanctuary Act of 1994 authorizes the State Lands Commission “to enter into a lease for the extraction of oil or gas from state-owned tide and submerged lands in the California Coastal Sanctuary if the commission determines that the oil or gas deposits are being drained by means of producing wells upon adjacent federal lands and the lease is in the best interest of the state.”
The new bill will enact the California Coastal Protection Act of 2015, which would delete the 1994 Act. According to the bill, California has not issued new offshore oil permits in more than 50 years and is not concerned with acquiring tax revenue from new offshore oil development in state and federal waters.
Furthermore, according to the bill, “The federal and state government, as well as the people of California, have consistently expressed support for an energy policy that transitions our use from fossil fuel to more renewable energy, greater fuel efficiency, and conservation. The governor of California, along with the governors of Oregon and Washington, have repeatedly expressed their strong opposition to any offshore oil development off of the West Coast.”
In a letter to the President of the US, they wrote, “While new technology reduces the risk of a catastrophic event such as the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, a sizeable spill anywhere along our shared coast would have a devastating impact on our population, recreation, natural resources, and our ocean and coastal dependent economies."
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