DAILY KOS: Committee kills bill to end offshore oil drilling in CA as Big Oil sets new lobbying spending record
… New oil leases for offshore oil and gas drilling have been banned in California waters for decades, but the oil industry can keep drilling in state waters 3 miles and less from shore under existing leases.
Senator Dave Min’s Senate Bill (SB) 559 sought to change this situation by requiring the California State Lands Commission to take immediate steps to terminate the remaining leases for offshore oil drilling in California state waters.
After the bill passed through the State Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee by a 7-3 vote, the Senate Appropriations Commitee placed the bill on the suspense file by a unanimous vote of 6-0 and 1 present/NV/
“As the 2021 oil spill off the coast of Orange County starkly illustrated (as did the 2015 Refugio Beach oil spill), offshore drilling poses a clear and immediate
threat to our beautiful beaches and our vibrant $44 billion a year coastal
economy,” said Senator Min after introducing the bill.
“These offshore oil rigs, which were built between the 1960s and 1980s, are long past their shelf life, and the wildcat oil companies that now operate these rigs have no incentives to invest meaningfully in their safety and soundness. We simply cannot afford to have more oil spills, and SB 559 provides an immediate pathway towards shutting these offshore oil platforms down,” Min stated.
California Climate Voters, the Center for Biological Diversity and other environmental groups supported SB 559.