California Spill Triggers New Calls against Drilling

October 05, 2021

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by Matthew Choi (Politico's Morning Energy) ... The California oil spill is drawing scrutiny in Washington, with the White House closely monitoring the situation and Democratic lawmakers pushing to curtail offshore drilling.

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OC OIL SPILL SPURS CALLS FOR ENDING OFFSHORE DRILLING: Local, state and federal forces are joining with industry to respond to the oil spill off the coast of Huntington Beach, Calif., where the pipeline owned by Amplify Energy spewed 126,000 gallons of crude spewing into some of the most famous waters in America. The company said it was investigating if an anchor caused the pipeline failure, with CEO Martyn Willsher calling it “one of the distinct possibilities,” during a news conference on Monday.

Jen Psaki said the White House is monitoring response efforts, which so far consists of 14 boats that are involved in oil recovery operations. Over 100 personnel have been deployed to help with shoreside response, and about 3,150 gallons of oil has been recovered.

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The spill has renewed calls from Democrats to limit or end offshore oil drilling, especially from California’s delegation. Both Sens. Alex Padilla and Dianne Feinstein called for the West Coast Ocean Protection Act (S. 58 (117)) — which would permanently ban oil drilling in federal waters off the coast of California, Oregon and Washington — to be passed as part of the party’s climate agenda.

“This is yet another preventable environmental catastrophe that threatens to cause years of environmental harms to critical marine and wetland ecosystem and major economic hardships for local communities,” Padilla said in a statement.

Meanwhile, state Sen. Dave Min, who represents the area hit by the spill, is considering seeking a ban on oil and gas operations in state waters, Pro's Colby Bermel reports from California. Such legislation would be a major impediment to drilling in federal waters, where the Elly platform sits, by eliminating pipelines that connect the production sites to the mainland, forcing them to rely on ships. READ MORE

OFFSHORE DRILLING BAN FOR RECONCILIATION: (Politico's Morning Energy)

Opinion: California’s latest oil spill should be its last if we want to protect the state’s environment and economy (Washington Post)

California lawmakers push to ban new drilling in wake of massive oil spill: Pipeline leak near Huntington Beach could be as much as 144,000 gallons, officials say as new details emerge (Washington Post)

THE NO SEA: (Politico's Morning Energy)

Excerpt from Politico's Morning Energy: OFFSHORE DRILLING BAN FOR RECONCILIATION: Western senators are now explicitly calling for a ban on offshore drilling off the West Coast to be part of reconciliation. In a letter to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Manchin on Wednesday, the lawmakers write that as “clean energy becomes a larger share of the West Coast power supply, the trade-offs associated with offshore oil drilling are only becoming increasingly unnecessary and destructive.”

They are calling for the bill to include the West Coast Ocean Protection Act, S. 58 (117), which has been introduced every Congress since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) all signed on. Read their letter here. READ MORE

Excerpt from Washington Post: Politicians across the state, from Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) down, are calling for an end to offshore drilling. Don’t hold your breath. California has not issued new leases in state waters since a massive oil spill off Santa Barbara in 1969. In January, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) introduced legislation — co-sponsored by Democratic senators from Oregon and Washington, among others — to permanently ban drilling in federal waters along the West Coast. But such efforts are unlikely to attract much Republican support. Former president Donald Trump, after all, attempted to expand offshore drilling. Rep. Michelle Steel (R), whose district includes Huntington Beach, is less than clear about her position on drilling. “We have to clean up first,” she said in response to questions this week. (Her office did not respond to email and phone queries.)

Steel’s 2020 opponent, former congressman Harley Rouda (D), quickly pounced. “We are in a full-blown environmental crisis, but Michelle Steel’s refusal to stand up to her Big Oil and Gas donors is hurting Orange County’s beaches, wildlife, and economy,” he said in a statement this week.

Expect this to be an issue in this very purple district in 2022. The most recent annual polling by the Public Policy Institute of California, published in July, found 72 percent of residents — including Republicans living near the Pacific coast — want offshore drilling to end. The trend has accelerated over the past decade as interest has grown in both climate change and the promise of renewable energy sources. Offshore wind power and wave energy projects are supported by 88 percent of Democrats, 83 percent of independents and 75 percent of Republicans, the survey found. Little surprise that “Californians have the perception that oil drilling off the coast is not really part of California’s future,” as Mark Baldassare, the institute’s president and chief executive, told me.

No new offshore drilling sites have been initiated in the federal waters three miles off the coastsince the 1980s. READ MORE

Excerpt from Politico's Morning Energy: THE NO SEA: A California lawmaker is introducing a bill to ban offshore drilling in state waters in the aftermath of last year’s Orange County oil spill, Pro’s Colby Bermel scoops. The bill would mandate the State Lands Commission to end all remaining oil and gas leases by the end of the next year. Though the majority of offshore drilling in the U.S. is in federal waters, California has three actively producing platforms in state waters. READ MORE