Senator George Runner
Serving the 17th District which incorporates portions of the Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Ventura and Kern counties.

Last week, I visited an oil drilling platform, known as “Irene,” five miles off the Coast of Santa Barbara County. I had a chance to witness first-hand the good work that goes on to supply energy to American families.

Irene is part of the Tranquillon Ridge Project, which would allow one of California’s leading oil and natural gas producers, Plains Exploration & Production Co., to access oil and gas reserves located beneath California state waters.

The project is a win-win for the environment and the economy:

PXP will convey approximately 3,900 acres of land to The Trust for Public Land, including approximately 3,700 acres adjacent to the Burton Mesa Ecological Reserve in the Lompoc Valley and up to 200 acres on the Gaviota Coast. These lands will be permanently protected for open space and public access.

The T-Ridge project will include a legally enforceable “end date” which ends all PXP’s offshore oil production on four platforms and removes the associated onshore support facilities.

By limiting the life of the platform operations, the T-Ridge “end date” significantly reduces the risk of an oil spill and protects California’s precious coastline and natural resources.

All Greenhouse Gas emissions from the T-Ridge project will be mitigated or offset resulting in carbon neutrality.

$1.5 million will be donated for technology to reduce Greenhouse Gases from transit vehicles in Santa Barbara County.

Furthermore, because all of the necessary facilities are in place, PXP does not have to build any new offshore or onshore facilities or pipelines for this project.

As for the economy, PXP has committed to advance $100 million immediately to California’s General Fund. Up to $4 billion in state revenue could be generated over the next 14 years, depending on oil prices.

Of course, jobs creation is another positive aspect of the project.

The California Senate approved the plan, but unfortunately the majority party that controls the California Assembly members has declined to partner with the Tranquillon Ridge Project based on extreme environmentalist philosophies – even though groups like the Sierra Club and The Ocean Conservancy gave testimony in support of the project at a January 2009 State Lands Commission hearing.

But don’t think that’s stopping off-shore drilling on the California coast; PXP is certainly drilling – but in federal waters, which means Washington D.C. receives the revenues from the bubbling crude, not Sacramento.

At a time when California’s coffers could use a boost; when Americans clearly continue to rely on fossil fuels and when Democratic nations desperately need to distance themselves from rogue oil-producing nations, we can’t afford to turn our backs on the Tranquillon Ridge Project.