Planning for Oil?

Last week the Planning Commission gave permission to an out-of-state company to drill an 11,000-foot well to explore for oil in the Cuyama Valley. The commission declined to require a full Environmental Impact Report, with an assessment of the consequences of greatly expanded drilling if the exploratory well finds oil. They also overlooked the drilling’s use of almost 200,000 gallons of groundwater from the Cuyama Valley Groundwater Basin, which is already in critical overdraft. And, they ignored the potential for contaminating this precious aquifer.

The entire process has had two major flaws. First, the county’s Planning department typically acts as if it were a paid agent of the applicant seeking project approval. We county residents, however, pay the department to be a fair fact-finder with our interests foremost.

Second, overarching realities are typically ignored. In this instance, that clean water is a great deal more valuable than oil, and that the U.S. is already the world’s largest producer of petroleum and natural gas.

Wastewater used in oil extraction puts our drinking water at risk. Oil companies have already injected huge quantities of wastewater directly into our protected aquifers, and thousands of wastewater wells across the state are still contaminating drinking water.

Further, we are in the midst of an unavoidable transition away from a fossil-fueled economy and toward one in which we can live sustainably and with health and prosperity. This conversion is necessary to reduce the trillions of dollars of dislocation and destruction that would otherwise result from Climate Change. This well directly conflicts with state and local efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Now we await results of the exploratory drilling. If “successful”, we must let the Planning Commission know that a rash of new well-drilling here is not in the best interest of the county and its residents.