ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. — A bill that would halt offshore drilling in California waters stalled in the State Legislature’s Committee on Appropriations Thursday.
State Sen. Dave Min, D-Irvine, introduced Senate Bill 953, following the oil spill of about 25,000 gallons off the Orange County coast last fall.
“Last year’s Orange County oil spill was another wake-up call on the risks that offshore drilling poses to our $44 billion coastal economy, our precious marine ecosystems, and our California way of life,” the first term state senator said in a news release.
The world economy has suffered from inflation that remains near 40-year highs as gas prices remain a challenge for many U.S. households.
Opponents say it’s not the time to stop any drilling, and that more is needed instead of less. President Biden has already called for the release of up to 180 million gallons of oil from the reserve, an amount considered unprecedented since the reserve was established in 1974.
Fears exist over what damage marine oil drilling can do after the Exxon Valdez disaster and the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion. But gas prices have dominated the discussion as angry Congressional Democrats have wondered how oil companies have made record profits while keeping prices high.
Min’s bill, he told Spectrum News, would have had little to no impact on oil prices. He believes the added security it could have provided coastal towns he represents like Anaheim, Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach would have been well worth it.
Despites its failure, Min believes it’s a good start.
“I am also proud of the fact that SB 953 has jump-started an important and much-needed dialogue about how California can and must transition away from offshore oil extraction," Min said. "The aging infrastructure of these offshore platforms means they are ticking time bombs. Another oil spill — and all of the associated environmental and economic damage — is inevitable unless we act now."