Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary Designation to Advance
November 09, 2021The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced it is seeking public comment on designation of the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary. Nominated by the Northern Chumash Tribal Council in 2015, the proposed sanctuary would stretch from Cambria to Gaviota Creek and offshore to include Rodriguez Seamount, Arguello Canyon, and Santa Lucia Bank. This area includes sacred submerged sites of the Chumash Peoples, important oceanographic features, and prime habitat for marine life.
Read MoreSanta Barbara County Planning Commission Rejects ExxonMobil’s Plan to Restart Offshore Platforms, Truck Oil
September 30, 2021The Santa Barbara County Planning Commission has voted to deny ExxonMobil’s proposal to transport oil by tanker trucks along hazardous California highway so it can restart three drilling platforms off the Santa Barbara coast. The 3-2 initial vote came unexpectedly on Sept. 29, during the first of two days of scheduled public hearings on the project, and is expected to be followed Nov. 3 with a formal vote and findings recommending the Board of Supervisors deny the project.
Read MoreSanta Barbara County to Hold Public Hearings on ExxonMobil’s Plan to Restart Offshore Platforms, Truck Oil
September 28, 2021The Santa Barbara County Planning Commission will hold online public hearings Sept. 29 and Oct. 1 on ExxonMobil’s proposal to transport oil by tanker trucks along hazardous California highways so it can restart three drilling platforms off the Santa Barbara coast. The plan calls for up to 24,800 oil-filled truck trips per year on coastal Highway 101 and hazardous Route 166, 24 hours a day, to refineries for up to seven years or whenever a new coastal oil pipeline is completed, whichever is shorter. ExxonMobil’s three offshore platforms near Santa Barbara were shut down in 2015 after the Plains All American Pipeline ruptured and spilled thousands of gallons of oil along the California coast.
Read MoreNine Members of Congress Support Environmental Groups in Lawsuit to Protect Against Offshore Fracking
September 24, 2021Nine members of the U.S. House of Representatives, including Representative Salud Carbajal, filed a brief in support of appeals filed by the Environmental Defense Center and Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, the State of California, and other environmental groups, in their case challenging federal government agencies’ approval of offshore fracking and acidizing. The brief, which was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, explains why the federal government should have conducted thorough environmental review before approving such activities.
Read MoreSanta Barbara County Staff Recommends Approval of ExxonMobil’s Plan to Restart Offshore Platforms, Truck Oil
September 10, 2021Santa Barbara County’s Planning and Development Department has issued a staff report recommending that policymakers approve ExxonMobil’s proposal to transport oil by tanker trucks so it can restart three drilling platforms off the California coast. Opponents of the project vow to stop it, starting at Santa Barbara County Planning Commission hearings on the plan set for Sept. 29 and Oct. 1.
The report reverses the position staff took last year recommending against the use of hazardous Highway 166 as too dangerous. After that recommendation and the announcement by Phillips 66 that it will shut down its Santa Maria refinery and related pipelines — Exxon’s preferred destination for getting its offshore oil to market — by 2023, the company delayed the project. A revised final environmental impact report was released last month.
Read More
Santa Barbara County Releases ExxonMobil’s Revised Plan to Restart Offshore Platforms, Truck Oil in California
August 16, 2021Santa Barbara County has released a revised final environmental impact report for ExxonMobil’s proposal to transport oil by tanker trucks so it can restart three drilling platforms off California, setting up hearings and a vote on the project this fall. Santa Barbara County Planning Commission hearings on the plan were set for Sept. 29 and Oct. 1. The plan calls for up to 70 oil-filled trucks per day on coastal Highway 101 and hazardous Route 166, 24 hours a day, for up to seven years. Santa Barbara County planning staff last year recommended against trucking on Route 166 as too dangerous for motorists and natural resources such as the Cuyama River.
Read More
White House & Governor Newsom Agree to Open Two Areas of California Coast to Offshore Wind
May 25, 2021Today, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Dr. Colin Kahl, and Governor Gavin Newsom announced an agreement to open two areas of the California Coast to offshore floating wind. This agreement includes an extension of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 2018 Morro Bay Call Area. This Call Area now encompasses 399 square miles, approximately 20 miles off the coast near Morro Bay and Cambria, and would accommodate 3 GW of energy production.
Read MoreEnvironmental Defense Center Brings on New Staff
May 10, 2021The Environmental Defense Center (EDC) is pleased to announce the addition of Rachel Kondor as a Staff Attorney and Peter Jones as a Legal Fellow. Ms. Kondor is well known to this community because she previously served as a District Representative for Congresswoman Lois Capps. In this role Ms. Kondor developed the Congresswoman’s legislation to designate wilderness, wild and scenic rivers, the Carrizo Plain National Monument, and the Condor National Recreational Trail in the Los Padres National Forest. Prior to that, she served as a Senior Legislative Assistant for environmental and tribal matters to Congressman Raúl Grijalva, staffing him in his role on the Natural Resources Committee and as Chairman of the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands. Ms. Kondor also has extensive experience working on environmental policy as an attorney and consultant for various nonprofit organizations.
Read MoreActions Speak Louder Than Words – Governor Newsom Must Take Real Action to Phase Out Oil
April 23, 2021Today, Governor Newsom directed the California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) to initiate a regulatory action to ban new permits for fracking by 2024 and asked the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to analyze pathways to phase out oil extraction across the state by 2045.
Read MoreSenators Wiener and Limón Introduce Legislation to Ban Fracking and Other Destructive Oil Extraction Methods and to Require Distance Between Oil Extraction and Homes and Schools
February 17, 2021EDC’s Staff Attorney, Tara Messing, joined Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara) as they introduced new legislation (SB 467) which halts the issuance or renewal of permits for hydraulic fracturing (fracking), acid well stimulation treatments, cyclic steaming, and water and steam flooding starting January 1, 2022, and then prohibits these extraction methods entirely starting January 1, 2027. It will also require distance between oil extraction and homes and schools.
Read More