We Need Measure P!

The fight over Measure P is a David vs. Goliath battle. To date, the No campaign has raised $5.6 million, virtually all of it from oil companies, much of it from oil giants; the Yes campaign has raised barely $300,000, most of it in small contributions from people like you and me. This gigantic imbalance alone should tell us whose interests are at stake and who is out there trying to buy an election! This flood of money is financing a flood of advertising that is awash in untruths and misrepresentations.

What is true, however, is that we absolutely need Measure P if we finally want to get serious about addressing global climate change. Climate change is happening, and the release of pollutants from fossil fuels is its primary engine. The only thing we can do now is to try and prevent it from taking on proportions that would be truly disastrous. However, we have to act now, act quickly, and act decisively.

Cyclic steam injection, the preferred recovery technique used in North County, produces four times more pollution than normal pumping techniques. Bad enough. More importantly, however, a new oil boom will simply distract us from what we must do: concentrate on investing in the development of green, sustainable energy. Doing anything else would truly be fiddling while Rome burns!