MLPA chair/big oil lobbyist takes Oregon's low carbon fuel standard to court

MLPA chair/big oil lobbyist takes Oregon's low carbon fuel standard to court

by Dan Bacher

Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) President Catherine Reheis-Boyd, who served as chair of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create so-called "marine protected areas" in Southern California and now leads the campaign to frack California, is also engaged in legal action to eviscerate one of Oregon's key environmental laws, the newly-adopted low carbon fuel standard rule.

"The Western States Petroleum Association, through legal counsel, today asked the Oregon State Court of Appeals to review the state's newly adopted LCFS Rule," said Reheis-Boyd in a statement on March 6. "It is the position of WSPA and its member companies that Oregon's low carbon fuel standard program is infeasible and could do irreparable damage to the state's energy market. Through today's action WSPA asked the Court of Appeals to also recognize that the LCFS rules are illegal."

"As written, the LCFS rules force producers to meet carbon-intensity targets, and/or purchase credits, at a time when alternatives are not available. Many studies have been produced suggesting alternatives will not be scalable for some time. Furthermore, Oregon's LCFS is far too intrusive in a market that is almost entirely dependent on out-of-state fuel sources, making the outcomes of the newly adopted rule hard to foresee. WSPA is asking the Court of Appeals to recognize the fundamental flaws in the LCFS rules and hold the rules invalid," said Reheis-Boyd.

"WSPA encourages Oregon's regulators and policymakers to consider strong environmental protections and work to reduce greenhouse emissions in the state. There are less risky and less costly ways to address climate change than a program that applies such burdensome regulations and undue strain on an industry all Oregonians rely upon. We are confident the Court of Appeals will agree with our position," she concluded.

Reheis-Boyd's whining about "burdensome regulations and undue strain on an industry all Oregonians rely upon" rings very hollow when you consider that she and other members of the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force for Southern California showed little regard for the economic and social impact that closing fishing in large areas of Southern California ocean waters would have on the livelihoods of recreational and commercial fishing families, as well as the impact it would have on coastal communities.

But to add insult to injury, the "marine protected areas" created under Reheis-Boyd's leadership don't actually protect the ocean, as the Marine LIfe Protection Act of 1999 was intended to do. Just check out these quotes from Reheis-Boyd on November 11, 2009, when she and the other panel members selected the controversial plan that would close fishing in many areas, including waters off Laguna Beach and Point Dume, but do nothing to stop pollution, fracking, offshore oil drilling or other insults to the ocean.

"We're not going to make everyone happy, but this has to be done," Chair Reheis-Boyd told the LA Times in an interview before the vote. "It's agony to weigh the environmental goals against people's livelihoods, especially here in Southern California, where the urban/ocean interface is greater than anywhere else in the nation."http://articles.latimes.com/2009/nov/11/local/me-fishing-ban11

“It's not perfect, but it's something we hope we can live with,” said Reheis-Boyd, according to Sign on San Diego the same day. (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/nov/11/panel-expands-sanctuaries-off-county-coast/)

Of course, Reheis-Boyd and other corporate operatives and political hacks on the panel could "live with" the fake "marine protected areas" since they weren't impacted by them at all!

Reheis-Boyd not only served as the Chair of the MLPA Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force for Southern California, but sat on the task forces to create fake "marine protected areas" on the Central Coast, North Central Coast and North Coast from 2004 to 2012. (http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/mpa/brtf_bios_sc.asp) She also served on a NOAA federal marine protected areas panel from 2003 to 2014.

The result of the domination of the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Forces by Reheis-Boyd and other political hacks and corporate operatives was the creation of alleged "marine protected areas" that fail to protect the ocean from fracking, offshore oil drilling, pollution, corporate aquaculture, military testing and all human impacts on the ocean other than sustainable fishing and gathering.

Unfortunately, corporate "environmental" NGOs and state officials greenwashed the oil industry-friendly "marine protected areas" created under Reheis-Boyd's "leadership." They continually claimed the corrupt MLPA process, funded by the shadowy Resources Legacy Fund Foundation, was "open, transparent and inclusive" when it was anything but.

Reheis-Boyd's leadership role in creating "marine protected areas" at the same time she was leading the campaign to eviscerate California and Oregon's environmental laws is one of the biggest conflict of interest stories in the state's history, but the corporate media and many "alternative" media outlets refuse to cover it.

That is undoubtedly because Big Oil controls the state's politicians and political processes - and has inordinate influence over the media. The oil industry is the most powerful corporate lobby in Sacramento - and it has dramatically increased its spending in recent years as it faces growing opposition to the expansion of fracking and other extreme oil extraction methods in California.

The Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) spent $8.9 million on lobbying state officials in 2014, nearly double what it spent in the previous year. WSPA spent $4.67 million in 2013.

From 2005 to 2014, the oil industry spent an astounding $266 million influencing the Governor, the Legislature and other California officials, according to Stop Fooling California.

That money has allowed them to greatly advance the oil industry's interests in California, including gutting the already weak Senate Bill 4, the green light for fracking bill; stopping legislation to protect the Tranquillon Ridge and the Vandenberg State Marine Reserve from oil drilling; and defeating bills to impose a moratorium on fracking in California.

Now the same big oil lobbyist who oversaw the creation of "marine protected areas" that don't protect the ocean and is leading the charge to frack California is now attacking Oregon's low carbon fuel standard rule in court.

For an in-depth investigation of oil industry spending and influence in California, please read my article in the East Bay Express: http://www.eastbayexpress.com/SevenDays/archives/2015/02/06/big-oil-group-spent-89-million-last-year-lobbing-jerry-brown-and-california-officials