“In Carbon Evolution: The county argues about oil development in Cat Canyon” (March 21), ERG’s spokesperson Nathan Eady is quoted as saying that California’s Air Resources Board (CARB), showed that Cat Canyon had an average carbon intensity of 4.08 in 2017. These statistics were presented at the March 13 Santa Barbara County Planning Commission hearing […]
Rachel Altman - Santa Barbara
Posted inOpinion
Aera Energy’s economic errors
In the Santa Maria Times and Lompoc Record on Dec. 16 (“Aera Energy taps Cat Canyon project’s environmental stewardship”), Aera’s PR representative claims that development of oil wells in our county will bring major economic benefits, including millions to support schools and other vital services. His figures come from UCSB’s Economic Forecast Project, whose research […]
Posted inOpinion
Armendariz is wrong about oil, county coffers
Joe Armendariz writes that Santa Barbara County could generate more in annual property taxes from increased oil and gas production (“Man-made disaster and unforced error,” Dec. 13), which is needed because our county is in a “chronic financial crisis.” I respectfully disagree on several points. The number of tax dollars from increased oil production cited […]
Posted inOpinion
Ask our supervisors: Oil or people?
Three oil companies (Aera, ERG, and PetroRock) have proposed to drill 768 new oil wells in Cat Canyon, through the Santa Maria groundwater basin, which provides drinking water to 200,000 people in 12 cities. The chemical-filled wastewater will be injected back into the ground, compromising the safety and health of the aquifer. Meanwhile, Shell/ExxonMobil (who […]