I was shocked to read recently that county official Dianne Black denied a recent request for the emergency truck transport of oil from the Las Flores facility on the Gaviota Coast because she could not identify it as an emergency. Apparently, she was not aware of the major oil spill at Refugio Beach that shut down the Plains All American Pipeline. What does she call this other than a major emergency for Santa Barbara County’s economy and, in particular, our schools? Maybe she feels she is protecting our highways, but she has apparently never looked at the huge volume of gas and oil tankers currently using the highways pulling in to unload dangerous cargos at each neighborhood gas station and refinery. The transport from the local area would be a mere drop in the bucket compared to the volume currently on our roadways!
The zeal and irrationality of her earlier decision can be rectified at a second hearing and request made by ExxonMobil to truck and remove stranded oil from its processing facility. This certainly needs to be approved, and we as a county need to go further and do what it takes to continue to produce oil during the shutdown and repair of this major national pipeline. It does us, both the county and the nation, no good to blindly and defiantly confront the oil industry by stopping a major portion of oil production within the county! It is foolish and incompetent to stop this needed county income. We need strong safety regulations and enforcement with automatic shutdown of the pipeline when a break occurs, but not zealotry and irrationality.
Being an environmental activist, I feel it is time for all environmentalists and oil interests to work together toward other solutions to environmental issues facing our planet. Confrontation will not work, but a logical transition to alternate fuels for transportation will offer relief for us all. I mention transportation alternatives because it appears we will always have a need for petroleum products in our homes, schools, businesses, and hospitals.
Our country is now entering a major transportation transition period that will take many years to complete, but we all need to work diligently to speed this process. This year Chevrolet will introduce a new all electric four-passenger SUV called the Bolt that will be available in 2017. Prior electric cars needed a recharge after a short distance, but not the Bolt as it will be able to travel 200-plus miles before a recharge. In addition to your being able to recharge at home, you can recharge at various electric recharge locations. But the best part of this new technology is the price for the average driver. This car will cost only $30,000 after rebates.
From Japan, a country short of its own supply of oil, comes one of the first hydrogen fuel cell automobiles. The hydrogen fuel cell converts hydrogen into electricity with only water vapor as a residue. The car actually runs on an electric motor powered by the fuel cell with a range of about 400 miles before its next fill up of hydrogen. It is currently a pricey alternative, but as more and more manufacturers enter the market I am sure costs will come down. Both of these alternatives to oil produce no carbon dioxide pollution.
By this time you are probably asking why we still need the oil industry and the restart of oil pipelines. The transportation transition will not happen overnight, but we all need to be encouraging legislators to install hydrogen filling stations across the nation and the use of electric powered transportation. We also all need to be aware of the fact that if we continue to use oil as fuel, it is estimated that oil will be gone in 40 to 50 years—it would be wise to use our remaining supplies for products and not fuel. In future years, as the supply dwindles, its value will rise and Santa Barbara County will generate even more tax dollars from a precious commodity. It is estimated county schools will miss out on $24 million during the next three years. With this in mind, oil production in our county is important both now for income for our schools and in the future for vast sums of tax money as it becomes even more scarce and precious! Keep a positive attitude about the future and call Dianne Black at Santa Barbara County and insist that until the pipeline is properly and safely fixed, all future transportation by truck should be allowed from the Las Flores facility!
Ken McCalip is a North Santa Barbara County native who holds bachelor and doctorate degrees in history, cultural geography, and law from various California universities. He can be reached at kennethmccalip@yahoo.com.
This article appears in Jan 21-28, 2016.