I have been out of Santa Barbara County for 10 years working overseas. You might remember my series of articles in The Independent entitled “Meeting the Pacific.” Well, I travelled across Europe and the South Pacific, searching for innocence. I never found it.
Here are a few facts:
Fishing has had more impacts on coastal and marine ecosystems than oil “spills." Land-use developers along the coast destroyed wetlands and nurseries to the sea. Polluters and major energy industries, including land developers, along the coasts, even with the California Coastal Act, destroyed coastal and offshore ecosystems. Fishing wiped out trophic webs and destroyed marine systems well beyond any oil impact, with the blessing of state and federal authorities. There is plenty of science that supports this. All the major oil developers left town because of the regulatory burden. But we are left with smaller oil companies who are less able to cover the costs of decommissioning and enhancement, per the regulatory requirements.