Big Oil spends big money to stop fracking ban in Santa Barbara County

Big Oil spends big money to stop fracking ban in Santa Barbara County

by Dan Bacher

The oil industry, the largest and most powerful corporate lobby in California, is dumping millions of dollars into a campaign to stop the passage of a fracking ban by the voters of Santa Barbara County.

The struggle by proponents of Measure P, the initiative to ban fracking and other extreme oil extraction techniques in Santa Barbara County, is a David vs. Goliath battle that parallels the No on Proposition 1 campaign. Big oil companies are dumping millions into the coastal county to defeat the measure, just like corporate agribusiness, billionaires and oil companies are spending millions to pass Governor Jerry Brown's water bond.

The Yes on Measure P campaign had a war chest of about $284,000 as of October 16, 2014, largely from hundreds of individuals and county residents, according to the Santa Barbara Independent. This amount notably mounts to only a small fraction of anti-Measure P funds. (http://ballotpedia.org/Santa_Barbara_County_Fracking_Ban_Initiative,_Measure_P_(November_2014).

Measure P opponents have raised $7.6 million. "Californians for Energy Independence" has funneled over $5 million of its $7.6 million war chest to the 'No' side, according to the same piece.

"The two single-biggest donors to the committee have been Chevron ($2.5 million) and Aera Energy ($2.1 million), the latter of which is rumored to be contemplating applying for 300 cyclic steam injection wells here," according to the Independent. "Other Santa Barbara County interests that have contributed to that state group include Santa Maria Energy and Pacific Coast Energy Company, both of whose future plans could be thwarted if the initiative passes. The regional fundraising team for 'No' has seen additional donations from Santa Maria Energy ($88,134) and Pacific Coast Energy Company ($157,035), as well as Venoco ($80,000) and ERG Operating Company ($90,893), which recently applied for 233 cyclic steam injection wells."

And who is speaking out against Measure P? Yes, it's the one and only Catherine Reheis-Boyd, President of the Western States Petroleum Association and Chair of the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create fake "marine protected areas" in Southern California. She also served on the task forces to create so-called "marine protected areas on the Central Coast, North Central Coast and North Coast.

Reheis-Boyd, the oil industry lobbyist whom state officials and corporate "environmentalists" greenwashed as the Chair of the allegedly "most open and transparent" environmental process in California history, proclaimed, "Any reduction in domestic oil production here means more dependence on foreign oil. We should be looking for ways to encourage more domestic production of oil and jobs that go with it rather than passing laws that reduce our domestic energy production."

She failed to mention that the oil industry was fracking like crazy in the Santa Barbara Channel as she oversaw the creation of "marine protected areas" that fail to protect the ocean from fracking, oil drilling, pollution, military testing, corporate aquaculture and all human impacts on the ocean other than fishing and gathering. An Associated Press and Freedom of Information Act investigation revealed that Southern California have been fracked at least 203 times over the past 20 years. (http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/10/19/calif-finds-more-instances-of-offshore-fracking/3045721/)

The stakes are huge in this campaign by grassroots activists to stop fracking and other environmentally destructive oil extraction techniques. Documents recently obtained by the Center for Biological Diversity reveal that almost 3 billion gallons of oil industry wastewater were illegally dumped into Central California aquifers that supply drinking water and irrigation water for farms.

The Center said the wastewater entered the aquifers through at least nine injection disposal wells used by the oil industry to dispose of waste contaminated with fracking (hydraulic fracturing) fluids and other pollutants. (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/california_fracking/pdfs/20140915_State_Board_UIC_well_list_Category_1a.pdf)

The documents also reveal that Central Valley Regional Water Quality Board testing found high levels of arsenic, thallium and nitrates, contaminants sometimes found in oil industry wastewater, in water-supply wells near these waste-disposal operations.

The illegal dumping took place in a state where Big Oil is the most powerful corporate lobby and the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) is the most powerful corporate lobbying organization, alarming facts that the majority of the public and even many environmental activists are not aware of.

An analysis of reports filed with the California Secretary of State shows that the oil industry collectively spent over $63 million lobbying California policymakers between January 1, 2009 and June 30, 2014. The Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), led by President Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the former chair of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create so-called "marine protected areas" in Southern California, topped the oil industry lobby spending with $26,969,861.

A compelling short film directed by a documentary film-maker (Road to Fallujah) explains what's at stake in the Proposition P campaign: http://youtu.be/Nk-MdvOPfJk

Please share it and tell everyone you know in Santa Barbara County to vote YES on Measure P to protect our country from fracking and other extreme oil extraction techniques. We can't allow Big Oil's money and influence to defeat this grassroots campaign to halt environmentally destructive oil extraction techniques in Santa Barbara County!

Background on Measure P:

Measure P Protects Santa Barbara County from the threat of extreme oil extraction, according to the Vote Yes on P campaign

Oil companies have identified thousands upon thousands of potential drill locations across our region -- from Santa Maria to Carpinteria.

This is not the conventional oil that we've been drilling for a hundred years. The only way to extract this oil is through the use of extreme techniques like:

Fracking: This technique involves injecting water, sand and chemicals underground to break up rock and extract oil and gas. The practice has been halted or banned in 12 states due to water contamination issues, earthquakes and other problems.

Acidizing: This is similar to fracking, but instead of breaking up the rock, it uses hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acid to melt the rock. According to the Centers for Disease Control, hydrofluoric acid is one of the most toxic chemicals in industrial use.

Steam Injection: This water-intensive process involves steam-heating oil to 500 degrees to get it out of the ground. It is the most energy-intensive form of oil production and is linked to groundwater contamination. For instance, a recent spill in Cold Lake, Canada contaminated a lake and aquifer. In the Orcutt oil field near Santa Maria, there have been 94 unexpected oil "seeps."

For more information, go to: http://www.voteyesonp.org