Save Our Beaches
Its been approximately one year since the dreaded BP oil spill that sent excessive amounts of oil into the gulf for about 3 and half months. The spill which effected jobs in fishing and tourism and forced the government to spend money on the clean up, etc.
In response to this disaster, President Obama and the interior department declared a moratorium on new deep sea drilling. Now the House of Representatives has passed a bill (HR 1231) introduced by Representative Hastings (WA-4) that reverses the offshore moratorium. It also has a plan for expanding offshore drilling, which can include coastal areas where there isn’t deep oil rigs. Say Southern California. Senator Barbara Boxer and Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom have already come out against this bill.
After the oil spill that destroyed the gulf, the oil companies and their congressional allies want to mandate deep sea offshore drilling in California.
As Senator Boxer argues, we have huge tourist and fishing industry off the coast. If the oil companies expand here, the oil that they could find wouldn't necessarily even help the current gas prices. There is no guarantee that oil is there. There is also no way to tell how much extra oil is in the deepwater off the California coast.
The potential for spill could damage California more than the oil would help. It would damage our economy and stall many other industries if their was a spill.
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