Santa Barbara Eyes Black Gold

Although it was troubling reading about this unfortunate vote here and in other places like the Wall Street Journal and the NY Times and the spin placed on it, the "historic shift" for those of us who live here is that Firestone is gone and his crony Smyser couldn't even make the runoff, good riddance! Local politics does matter and this vote and others particularly recently make it clear how important it is to our future and that of our children, that Firestone and Smyser and any others with their type of thinking have no place on the Board in that future. I don't expect Farr to face any real challenge from Pappas and then it will be vitally important to our quality of life and our childrens' futures that Farr has a long and successful tenure at the Board. This vote meant nothing practically but it shows how close we have come to losing what is vitally important to all of us who grew up here and hope our children stay and prosper and have the same quality of life we have been blessed with. Fortuantely Firestone is out to pasture and we on the South Coast must be dilligent to make sure that all future 3rd District Supervisors represent their constituents who live in Goleta, and those in the Valley who care about our environment and the natural quality of life!

Is the Indy having yet more copyediting trouble??

I reside in Santa Barbara and so do thousands of others and we are not eying Black Gold. We want to get oil out or at least fade it away to go fossil free by thirty-nine.

The headline here should be: Two Lame Duck Republican County Supervisors Repay Some Favors and Ignore the Facts about Black Gold.

Once again, the ever-crabby Dave-the-Pritch chooses to take a swipe at the Independent for not embracing and following his unassailable news instincts.

I'm sure if the newspaper wanted your "help," David_Pritchett, they would have asked long ago. But I wouldn't wait for the phone to ring.

To me "Get Oil Out" means just that - Get it out of the ground and into the refineries. I love our coastline and beautiful environment. I know the job can be done right. Do you think those platforms have just been pumping oil all these years? No, hundreds of successful wells have been drilled from those platforms in the last 20 years - and it's still going on today. No harm, no foul. To use oil patch language, let's get turning to the right!!

This is what happens when you let the Vice President and the oil companies privately decide the country's energy policy. This is obviously very regressive. What is most troubling is that this discussion for some odd reason cannot be simultaneously discussed in the context of climate change that is quickly advancing upon this earth. I guess it would be just overwhelming for the dismissive drill, drill, drill proponents. I thought we were supposed to be fossil free by thirty-three. Regardless the sooner the better.

So are we-to-be oil-free in 33 or 29? Who came up with that plan? Pollyanna?

That means no airline travel in 20 years. Well, that's cool because I hate airport security and love Santa Barbara.

But seriously, what's the doable alternative energy plan for So Cal mass transportation, high-rise office AC/heating and the airline industry? Don't expect the oil companies to do figure that out. They are called oil companies for a reason.

Where's the beef?

The OPEC-Russia-chavez oil cartel is not just looting the United States, but the whole world, and will accumulate over $1.5 trillion in net profits this year. At their current rate of take, OPEC-Russia will acquire enough cash to buy majority control of every leading company in the United States within six years. And you are voting into power the very American-energy-traitors who are doing this to you and your country.

OPEC loves American environmentalists, its making them rich. Big oil loves Enviro’s and Democrats too because it enables them to pump less oil for more money thus higher profits.

The naysayers are so wrong.

The new Santa Barbara OCS-State petroleum development project would reduce local fuel costs, have a daily send-out capacity of 100,000 BBL/day oil-gas. Enough to supply the daily needs of the entire Santa Barbara County as well as reduce imported oil needs for Southern California. www.strategicnine.com

PRIMARY BENEFITS OFFERED TO SANTA BARBARA COUNTY RESIDENTS
1. $2.50 GASOLINE for all registered Santa Barbara County residents and County vehicles from local oil production.
2. $2.50 GASOLINE for all registered hotel guests in Santa Barbara County.
3. County-wide Clean-Air, Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) car conversions facilities.
4. $1.50 CNG for Santa Barbara and Coast residents for flexi-fuel vehicles.
5. Substantial Annual Grants to local environmental study groups and renewable energy programs.
6. Significant decrease in County-wide Air pollution from lower natural reservoir seepage.
7. Much lower C02 emissions for the County and State of California.
8. Significantly reduce potent greenhouse gas methane emissions from offshore gas seeps.
9. Much cleaner Santa Barbara beaches and oceans by reduction in beach tar balls.
10. Large new natural gas supplies from Bering Sea, landing via Santa Barbara County, to lower America’s C02 emissions from out of State coal-fired power plants, which will no longer be needed.
11. Increased local, State and National energy income streams, with monies all staying inside the County and America.
12. Provide Complete Santa Barbara energy self reliance and improve America’s energy security.
13. Significant high-paying local jobs boost.
14. Significant increased cash energy royalties to County of approximately $250-500 million p.a will improve the quality of life for all Santa Barbara County staff and local residents.
15. Special Proposed Community royalty payment from Bering Sea Gas imports landings to fund FREE County-Wide clinics and a new FREE County Hospital.
16. Lower-cost CNG for public transport-busses and vans, will enable disadvantaged and senior citizens to travel more freely.
17. Natural Gas for County home heating and cooking at a 30% discount to the prevailing rate.
18. Significant Increase in Local Property Values due to many of the above benefits.

When Mobil oil wanted their Clearview project 14 years ago, guess what... oil was $30/barrel. They were stopped.

Today, Oil is over $120/barrel. We kept the oil in the South Ellwood field, where it safely appreciated by a factor of 4.

Every drop belongs to the public. Leaving the oil in the ground was probably the best public investment ever made in this County.

Leave it in the ground another 14 or 28 years... after 28 years it will be worth $2000/barrel. Extracting it 28 years from now will be way safer than today, due to new technology.

It is safer, smarter, and a better investment to leave the oil in the ground as long as possible. Sure, all the spendthrift, me-generation, live-on-credit, don't save for tomorrow whiners want to pump the oil now.

Leave it in the ground as long as possible.

I agree with sevendolphins. People who propose drilling are not thinking in terms of fiscal responsibility or military strategy, which ironic since many proponents of drilling seem to claim to be Republicans, and these used to be core Republican values. If we drill now, we won't have our reserves in the event of a war or an embargo from the middle east oil cartels.

And anyway, our coastlines already have more than enough drilling platforms. The safest option in terms of public safety and environmental health would be for oil companies to focus on maintaining the platforms they have. The companies could also use slant drilling techniques to access oil using the platforms they already have.

AShaw; Great Sci-Fi. Can't wait for the paperback and the DVD. Al Gore has only a few naysayers but 1000 + scientists-climatologists peer reviewed actual science. Obama "wants us to wait" is your editorial spin.

petersterling; The traitors would be the oil companies if you really think that they would permit a "State" oil supply that would; "1. $2.50 GASOLINE for all registered Santa Barbara County residents and County vehicles from local oil production." The oil companies like the pricing the way it is right now. The oil companies would start a civil war or some other catastrophe to keep the status quo.

Pass the DRILL-NOW plan, by the time the production of those Oil platforms are operational, (5) five years will have passed. In (2) two years, after that, the price of Oil will have Quadruplied and we in America won't be driving (unless you wealthy) or flying anywhere. Our view to wait will have left this economy in total disaray and the options to change that would have passed us by. I remember, removing the gobs of tar from my feet and that oily feeling from my body from a day at the Goleta beach. Researchers, have been showing to the public, that oil has been leaking from cracks in the shelf and fisures for Millions of years. The Oil spill from 1969, was an error that back then we (America) had little experience cleaning up or preventing. Now, we are very much more experienced in drilling, transporting and storing. We even have better, more effectent methods of clean-up that we didn't back in the Late 60's. In any event, "We snooze, we loose", on the Oil issue.

The Coal Oil Point Preserve's near (not "under") Holly, not Hondo. And the Greater Santa Barbara Channel Petroleum Co-Prosperity Sphere might be a bit more about installing an LNG terminal than about producing oil.