Santa Barbara City Council Says No to Offshore Drilling
Steve Chawkins, The Los Angeles Times
Despite the county supervisors' recent vote supporting expanded oil drilling, the city, which has opposed more drilling since the infamous 1969 spill, stands firm.
Santa Barbara coastline. (Photo: Steven Pinker)
Santa Barbara - With offshore oil drilling emerging as a hot issue in the presidential campaign, the City Council Tuesday night reaffirmed its opposition to drilling along the coastline where a 1969 spill gave rise to the Environmental Protection Agency and the modern environmental movement.
The action was designed to counter an Aug. 26 vote by Santa Barbara County supervisors urging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to rethink his stance against offshore drilling.
Concerned by high gas prices and low county revenues, the divided supervisors made national headlines and triggered the city's show of support for long-established state and federal bans on additional drilling off the coast.
The city measure is symbolic as it has no authority over offshore drilling. But with Santa Barbara's reputation for environmental activism at stake, city officials did not want the county's measure to go unchallenged.
"Like it or not, we're at the eye of the storm when it comes to energy policy in the U.S.," said Councilwoman Helene Schneider.
The arguments Tuesday night reflected those laid before the supervisors at their eight-hour meeting in August. Drilling supporters said at that meeting that modern technology made the process safer, while opponents argued that it was still risky and would not substantially lower gasoline prices.
In a letter to the council, a Santa Barbara-based drilling advocacy group, SOS California, said the measure before the City Council did not reflect the views of city residents. "Times have changed," said the letter. "Attitudes have changed."
The issue has taken on national resonance, most recently with former GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani exclaiming "Drill, baby, drill!" in his speech at the Republican national convention.
The council voted 5 to 1 for the measure, with Councilman Dale Francisco saying it was premature.
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