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 owns Aera) is trying to convince the public that we need the oil industry to maintain our economy. In the recent midterm election, costly advertisements “dripping in oil” convinced voters to defeat common sense anti-fracking setbacks, and drilling measures in Washington, Colorado, and our own San Luis Obispo County.
I ask our Board of Supervisors to look at the facts. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, oil production provides the most dangerous of all blue-collar jobs. And studies have shown that for every job in the oil and gas industry, there are 14 more potential jobs in renewables. Renewable energy is creating jobs 12 times faster than the rest of the economy and employs more people in the U.S. than fossil fuels.
The choice is between the health of our community and the wealth of the “oil-igarchy.” Take action: Write to our Board of Supervisors (dwilliams@countyofsb.org, ghart@countyofsb.org, jhartmann@countyofsb.org, peter.adam@countyofsb.org, steve.lavagnino@countyofsb.org) and ask them to oppose new oil wells in Santa Barbara County. Tell them we can preserve the environment and grow our economy at the same time.
This article appears in Dec 20-27, 2018.