P Is for Promotion

Like my household, did you also get another glossy anti-Measure P mailer? See more anti-P commercials on TV? Much of the millions of dollars to pay for this slick-as-oil campaign of distortion comes from out of our county, out of state, and beyond. A Chinese jewelry company is set to acquire one of the largest oil fields here. They boast of plans for more than 7,700 drilling locations near Santa Maria.

These ads don’t telling the truth about P. It’s all manufactured “facts,” scare tactics, and deep pockets. Big Oil is motivated by a singular focus on short-term profits for stockholders. Our water, economy, and environment are secondary, at best.

All the people who worked hard to bring Measure P to the ballot gave their time voluntarily. Over 16,000 of our neighbors lent their signatures to the effort. Risks to our groundwater are real and growing. As oil gets harder to profitably extract, the methods employed get more hazardous. New processes using extreme pressure and toxic and cancer-causing chemicals are not our “grandfather’s” oil operations.

Even the best wells leak more than we’re told. They leak above, in, and below our drinking water aquifers. And they leak even more often when under high pressure, high temperature, and high acidity. Especially during this drought, we can’t afford to take unnecessary risks with our aquifers.

Measure P allows current drilling to continue. It does not affect existing jobs or oil revenues paid to the county.

As accidents and oil spills multiply, citizens around the nation have been taking action to protect themselves and their families. In addition to our water supply, jobs in agriculture and tourism are vital.

Let’s leave the newer and more risky oil field activities to other places that don’t have as much to lose as we do. Every vote counts. Vote “yes” for Measure P.