SACRAMENTO – Governor Jerry Brown yesterday signed two bills to block new federal offshore oil drilling along California’s coast, but consumer and environmental justice advocates pointed out that he needs to also to stop his expansion of new offshore drilling in state waters, where Brown controls four times the number of wells that the Donald Trump does.
Brown announced the state’s opposition to the federal government’s plan to expand oil drilling on public lands in California as 30,000 people from California and throughout the world marched in San Francisco to demand that Brown halt his pro-Big Oil policies, including the approval of 21,000 new oil and gas permits, an oil industry-written cap-and-trade program, the pollution of California aquifers with toxic oil waste, and the irrigation of crops with oil wastewater.
You can see all of my photos of the march on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/dan.bacher.3
“Today, California’s message to the Trump administration is simple: Not here, not now,” said Governor Brown after signing SB 834 by Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) and AB 1775 by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance). “We will not let the federal government pillage public lands and destroy our treasured coast.”
This action came days before mayors, governors, heads of industry and international leaders convene in San Francisco for the supposed purpose of “mobilizing climate action” at the Global Climate Action Summit, where a coalition of indigenous, environmental justice and conservation leaders are planning direct actions this week.
On September 10 and 13, the “Rise Against Climate Capitalism” coalition is urging world leaders to “Stand with Communities, Not Corporations. Protect Mother Earth. End Climate Capitalism. Support Community Solutions.”
Brown said SB 834 and AB 1775 block the Trump administration’s plan to expand offshore oil drilling by prohibiting new leases for new construction of oil and gas-related infrastructure, such as pipelines, within state waters if the federal government authorizes any new offshore oil leases.
“From the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill to the 2015 Refugio spill, I represent a community that knows all too well the devastation oil spills can bring to our economy and environment. I’m very pleased to see this legislation signed into law, because we’ve always known, that if we don’t drill, it can’t spill,” said Senator Jackson.
The bills also require new public notices and processes for lease renewals, extension amendments or modifications to authorize new construction of oil and gas-related infrastructure associated with new federal leases. There has been no federal expansion of oil and gas drilling along California’s coastline for more than 30 years, but Brown’s oil and gas regulators approved 238 new offshore wells in state waters less than 3 miles from shore under existing leases in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties in four years alone.
In a separate action, the Governor submitted the state’s formal opposition to the Bureau of Land Management’s proposal to open new public land and mineral estates for oil and gas lease sales.
“It has been more than twenty years since the Bureau of Land Management last expanded the availability of federal public lands and mineral estates for oil and gas leases in the Central Valley and Central Coast of California. Since then, the world’s understanding of the threats of climate change has greatly advanced and, in many cases, these threats have become reality,” said Governor Brown in his letter to the U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke.
Consumer Watchdog thanked Governor Brown for signing SB 834 and AB 1775, but the group noted that Brown has jurisdiction over four times more state oil wells in state waters off California’s coast than oil wells Trump has control of in federal waters off the coast — and said Brown needs to shut those wells down.
“During his administration Brown, has issued more than 20,000 permits to drill new oil and gas wells in California, and that includes more than 200 permits for off shore wells in state waters -- wells within 3 miles of the California coast,” said Jamie Court, President of Consumer Watchdog.
"Governor Brown cannot preach one mantra of 'Drill baby drill' in California and another when it comes to Trump drilling in federal waters off California," said Court. "That’s hypocrisy not leadership. Governor Brown needs to revoke the permits for the hundreds of oil wells he has approved off California’s coast if he is willing to prevent Trump from drilling in federal waters off California. Today’s signing is an important step for coastal protection, but Brown needs to walk the walk and revoke the permits of the offshore wells he controls in state waters too."
Between 2012 and 2017, Brown Administration regulators issued about 238 permits for new state wells in existing offshore leases, within three miles of the coast, and 171 of those offshore wells are currently active, according to analysis by the nonprofit FracTracker Alliance. Oil production continues from 1,366 offshore wells in existing leases, according to the California Department of Conservation in 2017.
“Overall the state under Brown controls four times as many offshore oil wells in state waters as Trump’s federal government controls in California waters. Activists are marching in San Francisco today for Brown to shut down the more than 20,000 oil wells he has approved, making today's rare Saturday bill signing no coincidence,” said Court.
An online map at www.BrownvTrumpoilmap.org shows all the state offshore wells under Brown’s control vs the federal wells under Trump’s control, with geolocation data for each.
"Brown has jurisdiction over four times as many offshore wells as Trump, and he needs to set an example by revoking the rights to drill in these active and inactive wells if today’s signing is not to be more than a PR move prior to the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco next week,” emphasized Court.
800 public interest groups have called upon Brown to limit neighborhood drilling and freeze new oil permits. He has refused to date. Read more at www.brownslastchance.org. They will protest in San Francisco all week.
Yesterday, a group of 10 people from the Klamath Justice Coalition, including members of the Yurok, Karuk and Hoopa Tribes from the Klamath and Trinity rivers, was one of many groups painting murals on the street at the Civic Center, where the Rise for Climate march converged after walking from the Embarcadero, in San Francisco yesterday.
Their mural, proclaiming “No Dams, No Diversions, No Pipelines,” tied together the issues of dam removal, water diversions for agribusiness and fossil fuel industry infrastructure expansion, including new pipelines to export crude oil and natural gas.
“Klamath Justice was there in solidarity for climate justice,” said Annelia Hillman, a member of the Yurok Tribe and organizer for the Klamath Justice Coalition. “To have naturally flowing, cold, clean water is essential to the survival of salmon and our culture.”
“California water policies have a long legacy of water thievery, the diversion of water for irresponsible environmental practices like industrial farming and fracking. It all ties together with the new offshore drilling taking place under the Brown administration and proposed by Trump administration. It all comes down to protecting water and the earth,” concluded Hillman.
Hillman’s daughter, Mahlija Florendo, a grassroots environmental justice advocate, designed the mural.
After the march, Indigenous Rising Media released the following statement:
Today Indigenous Peoples from across the world led the Rise For Climate, Jobs & Justice March in San Francisco and kicked off the It Takes Roots - Solidarity toSolutions (Sol2Sol) Week !
California Indigenous Peoples lead the Indigenous Contingent and following was the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Contingent.
As Indigenous Peoples we recognize that Climate Change directly impacts our self-determination, food sovereignty, and our sacred relationship to water, therefore climate change impacts our ability to thrive and continue our traditional life ways.
We also recognize that violence against the land, especially fossil fuel extraction, is violence against women.
This is why we challenge market based solutions to climate change like cap and trade, carbon trading, and carbon pricing - agendas being promoted by the Global Climate Action Summit. These mechanisms only allow corporations and governments to continue to extract and buy their way out of destroying the land, water and climate.
Today, we fulfilled prophecy by unifying Indigenous Peoples from the north and south to RISE for a just transition. We also marched along with our relatives and allies within the It Takes Roots Coalition: Climate Justice Alliance, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, Right To The City Alliance.
Governor signs bill to improve the response to oil spills
On Saturday, the Governor also signed AB 2864 by Assemblymember Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara) that “will improve the assessment of damage and restoration and mitigation measures after an oil spill affecting coastal resources,” Brown’s Office said.
The impetus for that bill was the Refugio Oil Spill of 2015, when over 9 miles of the Southern California Coast, including four so-called “marine protected areas” were fouled with crude oil from badly corroded pipeline operation owned by the Plains All American Pipeline Company out of Houston Texas. A jury Friday found oil pipeline company Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (Plains) guilty of one felony and eight misdemeanor counts in the Refugio Oil Spill of 2015 that fouled over 9 miles of coast.
Ironically, in an apparent conflict of interest, Catherine Reheis Boyd, the President of the Western States Petroleum Association, the lobbying organization for the Plains All American Pipeline Company, served from 2009 to 2012 as the chair of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create so-called marine "protected areas" (MPAs) in Southern California, including four MPAs being fouled by the spill.
Four "marine protected areas" created under Reheis-Boyd — the Goleta Slough, Campus Point, Naples and Kashtayit State Marine Conservation Areas — were imperiled by the oil spill that started at Refugio State Beach.
For the full text of the bills signed yesterday visit http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. The full text of the Governor’s letter, with the state’s comments on the proposal submitted yesterday, can be found here.