Wary Environmentalists Applaud Bush’s Pledge on Offshore Drilling

Wary but hopeful environmentalists Thursday applauded President Bush’s pledge to postpone oil drilling off the California coast while dismayed oil industry officials warned that further delays would aggravate the nation’s reliance on foreign energy sources.

“If George Bush is sincere about this, then we’re overjoyed because he is raising the white flag in the middle of the nation’s biggest environmental battlefield,” said Bob Hattoy, Western Regional director for the Sierra Club.

But Hattoy and other activists cautioned that the President’s plan to postpone major lease sales off the Northern and Southern California coasts indefinitely falls short of the permanent shoreline protection they have sought.

Fate of 3rd Sale Unknown

Moreover, they noted that the fate of a third proposed lease sale--scheduled for early 1991 and encompassing 9 square miles off the central coast between Sonoma and Monterey counties--is unknown. Its status was not addressed by Bush because leases there would have no effect on the budget for the next fiscal year.

Spokesmen for the oil industry, meanwhile, said delaying the lease sales is a shortsighted move that will cost the deficit-plagued federal government badly needed income, an estimated $400 million in the first year alone. They also said the ongoing delays have created “logistical nightmares” for companies intending to bid for the leases.

“If our public policy as a nation is to put that area off limits to new development, then the question consumers have to ask is where are we going to get our oil and gas?” said Robert Getts, assistant executive director of the Glendale-based Western States Petroleum Assn., which represents 50 companies. “When nearly half of your oil is (imported), then you are highly vulnerable to shortages and stoppages.”

Federal officials announced the massive oil lease sale--pushed by former Interior Secretary James G. Watt--in mid-1987. Under the plan, the government was scheduled to offer oil companies tracts in Lease Sale 95, encompassing 6.7 million acres off the southern coast, and Lease Sale 91, which covers 1.1 million acres off the northern coast, beginning next year.

The Interior Department has estimated that the equivalent of 2 billion to 4 billion barrels of oil lie offshore of California, with the majority in Lease Sale 95. Currently, oil drilling is under way on 22 platforms in federal waters off California, mostly in the Santa Barbara area.

From the start, feisty opponents--including environmentalists, fishermen, local government leaders and tourism officials--have dogged the proposal to offer new leases. Critics contend that the drilling would endanger migrating marine mammals, pollute the air, clog sea lanes and threaten the state’s tourist industry.

Under Bush’s plan, unveiled in a nationally televised speech Thursday night, both Lease Sale 91 and 95, as well as a third area off the Florida coast, will be indefinitely postponed. Their futures hinge on recommendations from a new task force involving the Interior Department, the Department of Energy and the National Academy of Sciences. The lease sales could be canceled if the task force, whose report is due by Jan. 1, finds “significant and adverse environmental effects that have not been previously identified.”

Nonetheless, Bush said he remains committed to offshore oil and gas exploration if it is prudent and environmentally sound.

While foes of the drilling expressed hope that the postponement signals a new attitude toward environmental protection in Washington, they said they will continue to push for a blanket coastal protection similar to an “ocean sanctuary” proposed by Rep. Barbara Boxer (D-Greenbrae).

Congressional Applause

“We’re excited but wary because we’ve been let down in the past,” said Warner Chabot, a consultant representing six counties along the central coast. “Our position is one of trust but verify, sort of like Ronald Reagan’s posture was toward the Soviet Union.”

Members of California’s congressional delegation applauded Thursday’s action and praised Bush for following through on campaign promises to strengthen the federal government’s protection of the environment.

“Read my lips. George Bush is an environmentalist,” Sen. Pete Wilson said, adding that Bush has demonstrated that he “is a man of his word.”

Sen. Alan Cranston was more circumspect, urging Bush to abandon the “piecemeal approach” and find a “permanent solution” to protecting the state’s coastline.