Onshore Jobs, Offshore Oil

The article regarding the California offshore oil and gas leasing controversy contains a concise argument for the economic benefits to be derived by the nation therefrom; unfortunately, “the nation” is a high order abstraction with new “gut-level” fighters for its interests. The owners of property in the Pacific Palisades, on the other hand, are a group of wealthy and politically powerful individuals who have organized around a “gut-level” issue of self-interest.

The issue of protecting the pristine beauty and ecological balance of the shoreline for future generations is a smoke screen. The “bottom line” of the opposition consists of two basic and underlying concepts indigenous to all wealthy landowners: (1) The idea that when they purchased their property they also purchased the view, and (2) The vague fear that their holdings will be “democratized,” i.e., that others besides themselves will have a say in decisions made concerning “their property, including of course--the view.”

I know both sides of the issue. I am a public servant on the “front lines” of serving the public. By U.S. socioeconomic indices and political indications I am not poor, but I am rapidly approaching that state. On the other hand, my family has been in California (Baja y Alta) for six generations. My maternal relatives, the Villavicencios of Baja California (of whom a feature article appeared in The Times some time back) are poor but proud landowners in Baja California, although before the Mexican Revolution of 1910 the word “extensive” would have been a mild adjective defining their domain.

Although clearly in the interest of the community and the nation, my grandfather fought against roads and fire breaks with as great a monetary vociferousness as any present day landowner in Pacific Palisades.

GEORGE ALVAREZ

Los Angeles