WASHINGTON, DC - April 4, 2014
Alice Green, Member of the Board of Directors of SOS California, testified before the House Committee on Natural Resources about the "domestic opportunities to reverse California's growing dependence on foreign oil." In her testimony, Ms. Green, an environmental consultant with an undergraduate degree in Biology (University of Pennsylvania) and a Masters Degree in Marine Resource Management (Texas A&M), summarized key facts surrounding the potential benefits of developing the offshore energy projects proposed for the OCS and State waters along Santa Barbara County. With the use of new technology, she explained that these oil and gas reserves can be access by existing infrastructure and directional drilling - there is likely no need for additional facilities.
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...With proven directional drilling technology, formations in the Santa Barbara Channel are accessible mostly from land-based slant drilling with no offshore spill risk... reserves are near existing infrastructure and producible within approximately 18 months with State
and Federal approval. --Alice Green, SOS California
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For the past seven years SOS California has been educating the public about the environmental impact of hydrocarbon seep pollution in the ocean. California beaches are washed with oil seepage - daily - from state and OCS waters along 100 miles of the central coastline. The offshore natural oil and gas seeps pollute the marine environment, killing seabirds, sickening surfers, and are a significant source of air pollution in Santa Barbara County.
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...Producing these reserves could have an extraordinarily beneficial effect on the
environment by removing about 80 tons of methane gas - per day - from the
atmosphere. --SOS California
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The environmental impact of these "natural occurrences" is substantial, and SOS believes the economic impact from the unrealized revenue that basically washes away every day is significant as well. New OCS royalty revenues ultimately could reach 1 trillion dollars and provide permanently cleaner beaches, directed funding increases for schools and other essential services, and long-term subsidy increases for renewable incentives. A 2013 study by Dr. Mark Schneipp, Director of the California Economic Forecast, demonstrates that allowing production in state and federal waters offshore California would provide broad economic benefits while creating up to 100,000 high-paying technical jobs.
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 According to the California Energy Commission, California produces only about 37.2 percent of the petroleum it uses. In 2007, the state spent nearly $50 billion for gasoline and $9.7 billion for diesel. Petroleum-based fuels account for 96 percent of the state's transportation needs. The tremendous and growing cost of oil imports was addressed by the Committee, with Ms. Green questioning the assumption that the U.S. will be able to continue to borrow overseas money for the next 30 years, while running a 600 billion dollar a year trade deficit primarily due to imported oil. More important, a Los Angeles Basin Crude Oil Supply study forecast shows that by 2020 over 80% of California oil will be imported from foreign countries. |
...Led by Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, Iraq and Columbia, foreign suppliers now provide
most of California's oil supply. --Rep. Tom McClintock
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With California currently importing over 60% of its oil from foreign sources, in addition to oil from Alaska, we are highly dependent upon coastal oil tanker transportation. Ms. Green cited ta study by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) warning that tanker spills represent a far higher catastrophic risk than offshore production, and emphasized that tankering creates a much greater carbon footprint than producing California's offshore reserves.
Further, Representative Doug LaMalfa and California Senator Jean Fuller explained to the Committee that California is losing its oil and gas infrastructure, as producers are leaving the state in response to the demand of oil producing states, such as North Dakota. Concurring with Ms. Green, Sen. Fuller explained that California has a unique opportunity to generate significant revenue and create thousands of new jobs by opening up energy production. |
This hearing is about choice: To continue to import oil or open up production
in California. --Representative Doug Lamborn, Committee Chairman
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Educating the public about how advances in offshore oil and gas technology and safety systems have allowed California to benefit from the reductions in coastal seepage pollution is paramount for SOS California. Informing the public - and policy makers - about the potential revenue and energy resources available to the state and county is the mission of SOS. We believe that a healthy partnership between the environmental community and the energy industry is the bridge to our renewable future. To that end, SOS California provided the Committee on Natural Resources with fact-based research including:
- The extent of pollution caused by natural oil and gas seeps
- How peer-reviewed studies have proven that extraction of oil and gas resources has been responsible for reductions in coastal oil seepage pollution, resulting in cleaner beaches and improved air quality along the California's central coastline
- How exploration and production of offshore reserves can be conducted in an environmentally safe manner
- How expanded offshore production in California would dramatically reduce the cost of oil imports and oil transportation in California waters
- How potential new offshore oil and gas royalty revenues can fund the transition to a renewable energy infrastructure
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