Our County Planning Commission and the Board
of Supervisors face a choice to promote a future of clean energy development in
the county or double down on our past history of high risk and polluting oil
development. The ERG and AERA dangerous oil project proposals are being
stretched out to wear the county down and approve these high intensity, long
term drilling schemes, through our drinking water aquifers.
A recent BNP Paribas Bank analysis predicts
that oil prices are poised to crash due to future low demand, thanks to rapid
clean solar/wind energy production worldwide. The report posits that further
oil development will result in major bankruptcies of oil companies with local
and national governments picking up the cleanup tab ( thinkprogress.org August 8).
Does Santa Barbara County want to approve 30-
to 40-year oil expansion projects in this environment? Haven't we learned our
lesson with the Venoco bankruptcy and resulting Platform Holly clean-up costs?