Santa Maria Energy has been placing full-page ads in local papers objecting to the fact that county supervisors required them to offset some of their greenhouse gas emissions. They think it’s “unfair” they don’t get an unlimited license to pollute for free and pass along the costs to the rest of us.
We are experiencing the impacts of climate change now. We are seeing more intense and deadly storms, record-breaking fires and droughts, spreading tropical diseases, heat waves, and rising seas. The oceans are more acidic, affecting the oyster industry in the Pacific Northwest and people’s livelihoods. Our local agricultural economy and our children’s future are at risk.
What is “unfair” is that people are suffering and dying today from the impacts of global warming, including 5,600+ people from one of the largest storms ever recorded in the Philippines, and Santa Maria Energy is quibbling about a 60-cent-per-barrel cut in their profits.
What is “unfair” is that Santa Maria Energy is threatening politicians for taking a modest step to limit greenhouse gas emissions, even though according to polling by the Public Policy Institute of California, 81 percent of Californians want oil companies to reduce emissions.
The Santa Maria Energy project will be one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the county, generating more than 87,000 tons of emissions per year, or the equivalent of adding 17,000+ cars to our roads. The recent decision by county supervisors requires that the company reduce or purchase offsets for emissions above a 10,000-ton-per-year threshold. The cost for them will be peanuts: an estimated half-a-million bucks a year out of $110 million a year in revenues.
The politicians who should be “judged in the court of public opinion” are Steve Lavagnino and Peter Adam, the supervisors who voted for Santa Maria Energy’s right to pollute for free, and the other local politicians they got to speak out on their behalf. Those politicians include Jim Richardson of Solvang, John Linn and DeWayne Holmdahl of Lompoc, Frances Romero of Guadalupe, and Alice Patino of Santa Maria.
The majority of county residents want our supervisors to ensure oil companies are operating safely, paying for their pollution, and held accountable. They do not want politicians who are in the pocket of the oil companies. Santa Maria Energy’s call to action is a blatant attempt to buy our elections and should be resisted.
We need to ensure that our local environment, water resources, and air quality are protected and that our politicians take the risks of climate change seriously.
Take some time this holiday season to write your local politicians. Tell them that climate change is happening, that California must take the lead in addressing it, and that you will be voting for candidates who act to advance a clean energy economy and who can prove they are not beholden to oil interests.
Katie Davis is a member of 350sb.org, the organization that generated more than 3,300 signatures on petitions opposing the Santa Maria Energy project. Send comments to the executive editor at rmiller@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Dec 5-12, 2013.
