Onshore Jobs, Offshore Oil

Hodel persists in pressing for oil development offshore California in the name of national security, economic necessity and jobs.

I suspect that right now he is much more eager for such development than is the oil industry, given the present price and demand situation, and the financial condition of the oil industry.

Hodel pursues the anachronistic policy of increasing oil production at enormous cost, when results could be achieved much sooner and at far less expense through energy conservation and alternative sources of energy. But the Administration refuses to acknowledge the efficacy of such policies despite the numbers that show that these approaches are effective.

During the energy crisis of the mid-’70s, we were told that conservation and alternative sources of energy were quaint and noble proposals, but incapable of achieving notable results. Energy consumption, the energy industry said, must continue to increase 4% to 7% a year if American were to maintain their standard of living.

A few minutes’ work on a calculator would have indicated that this was not only folly, but impossible. But we accepted these forecasts.

Now we see that even without an energy conservation policy, the efficient use of petroleum (and electricity) has achieved far more than efforts to increase production.

Oil imports in 1984 were 22.65% less than in 1973, but not because of increased oil production. That production, in fact, dropped nearly 5% below the 1973 level. The improvement came through energy conservation, efficiency and the use of alternative energy sources.

Hodel says the offshore oil industry provides jobs, and it does. But providing jobs is not sufficient justification for a program that has little else to say for it. Oil service companies could easily convert their efforts to energy-conservation programs, the development of alternatives to gasoline as motor fuels, the rehabilitation of the nation’s railroads, and a host of other programs that are far more promising than expanding the oil industry offshore California.

Of course that would take federal leadership, and that is lacking.

Hodel says that during his California hearings last year he found a “broad array of support for the (oil leasing) program among thoughtful people.”

On his Santa Barbara stopover, he lectured us at length about how benign the offshore oil industry was for coastal communities, and asserted that production platforms are hardly visible from shore. We’ve had platforms offshore since 1958, and are aware of their appearance. When he was through, he stayed a short while to hear some of our comments, and then left for Ventura where the audience was more receptive.

Most of our air pollution comes from the oil industry: exploration, production, transportation, processing, refining, and--finally--consumption in our automobiles. Is it not time now to explore the alternatives we will have to adapt ultimately in any case?

ROBERT SOLLEN

Santa Barbara

Sollen is oil policy coordinator of the Los Padres Chapter of the Sierra Club.