Why aren/t we drilling for more oil in Santa Barbara County?

Ask the Democrat movers and shakers on the South Coast. While you/re at it, ask the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Lois Capps and Senator/s Feinstein and Boxer and the entire California Democrat delegation.

Locally, on July 3, the Board of Supervisors at the urging of 1st District Supervisor Salud Carbajal placed an Bemergency itemC on the agenda Bto consider opposing the opening of federal waters to oil drillingC after President Bush lifted a moratorium on offshore drilling.

Then, when it was learned that several well-informed citizens would speak on the issue, it was suddenly dropped from the agenda. My, that/s a brave move, but not unexpected in a political environment dominated by overanxious liberal environmental activists who favor shrill rhetoric over an objective analysis.

As the cornerstone of their objection to oil drilling, South Coast environmentalists point to a 200,000-gallon crude oil spill on the afternoon of Jan. 29, 1969, that started the overzealous environmental movement in Santa Barbara County.

The mess was promptly cleaned up. Then the environmentalists came out of the woodwork demanding the Bsomething be done.C These were the years when rowdy activists ruled the network news, long, dirty hair was Bin,C tie-dyed was trendy and most of the South Coast/s current political activists learned about life in a commune.

This was also long before 24-hour news networks, when no one questioned the veracity of the so-called experts and reporters who reported the story in 30 seconds; or anyone had the ability to check a few facts before pandering politicians raced off to Bsave the environment.C

I found a report: BA Methodology for Investigation of Natural Hydrocarbon Gas Seepage in the Northern Santa Barbara Channel,C produced by UCSB for the U.S. Minerals Management Service (http://www.coastalresearchcenter. .ucsb.

edu/cmi/files/2003-054.pdf) in March 2003. The report demonstrates that there is and always has been a huge natural loss of crude and methane gas off of Santa Barbara/s shores.

You probably haven/t heard much about this report.

UCSB scientists, using sophisticated sonar devices and mathematical models, estimate that each day an astonishing 4,895 gallons of crude oil and 71 tons of methane gas escape without any mistakes by those nasty oil producers! Nature does it all alone. No wonder people complain about the BodorC down south. With all of that methane gas escaping every day, the place smells like the day after a sauerkraut and boiled egg eating competition.

If these figures are relatively accurate, and who could doubt an official U.S. government report prepared by UCSB researchers, that means that about 1.78 million gallons of oil are released naturally in the Santa Barbara Channel each year.

That/s over 60 million gallons since the /69 spill!

Opponents to opening more areas to drilling claim that there are already vast tracts of land where drilling is permitted. If there were large deposits of oil in areas where drilling is permitted, isn/t it logical that BprofiteeringC oil barons/ would already be harvesting this oil?

Nationally, Democrats are demanding that we use the strategic reserve or encourage Middle East nations to increase production to help reduce oil prices; another short-sighted approach to a problem created by their own paranoia with Bsaving the environment.C

No American president has ever been able to dictate production policy in the Middle East, but the president, with the cooperation of Congress, can set policies that allow production in the United States.

Middle Easterners are very wise businessmen and are keenly aware of the extreme political/environmental attitudes of Democrats in America. For example, when President Bush announced he was suspending a moratorium on offshore drilling, the price of oil dropped dramatically.

Democrats, through their environmental initiatives, have sought to eliminate oil production in the United States. Their misguided policies help the Middle Eastern nations to manipulate our economy. But they may be wavering since it has been reported that Rep. Pelosi will now BallowC her flock to support oil drilling, at least until they are re-elected.

Democrats/ short-sighted zeal to Bsave the environmentC has consistently created long-term economic problems for the people of the United States. It/s time for them to get out of the way and let the oil flow.

Ron Fink is a longtime Lompoc resident and a community activist.

August 26, 2008