SPILL POLITICAL FALLOUT : Oil Patch on the Road to Sacramento : The tarry goo on the Orange County coastline may affect the governor’s race as enraged residents become environmentally active.

When 394,000 gallons of Alaskan crude oil flowed from a ruptured tanker into the ocean off Huntington Beach last week, the public response was dramatic. Orange County, known for its conservatism and lack of political activism, suddenly had local residents marching and carrying placards. Hundreds turned out to help with the cleanup. Many worked around the clock in caring for the stricken wildlife.

The accident could not have come at a more politically significant time and place. Orange County is home to 1.2 million registered voters, more than 650,000 of them Republican, which makes it the largest conservative voting bloc in the state. Indeed, a key to Republican victories throughout the past decade has been winning big in Orange County, where Republicans are loyal and Democratic swing voters are numerous. The victory margins of more than 300,000 votes the county gave to Ronald Reagan, George Bush, George Deukmejian and Pete Wilson helped make possible Republican successes in a state with a Democratic majority. Thus, in 1990 the road to the governor’s mansion runs through Orange County.

There is increasing evidence that the spill, along with other recent environmental events, has turned county residents away from their typical pocketbook orientation and matured their views on ecological issues. In a county with a rate of volunteerism well below the national average, according to our most recent survey, people have been more than generous with their time during the cleanup. And residents who showed little concern about conservation in our earlier polls are now mounting large efforts to safeguard endangered wildlife. In this climate, concerns about taxes and the economy are likely to take on less importance.

The local oil spill made real the bad news about the environment that residents had

been hearing for more than a year. Reports about global problems such as the “greenhouse effect,” atmospheric ozone depletion and deforestation have become increasingly dire. The Alaskan oil spill had devastating effects on fish, plant and wildlife. Closer to home, residents heard that a regional plan to reduce air pollution will require major changes in their lifestyles.

And now, with the governor’s election nine months away, the environment promises to take on new importance in the minds of Orange County voters who watched helplessly as an oil slick approached their shoreline.

To be sure, the oil spill is not the fault of the Republican Party. But a man-made disaster often spells trouble for those in power and opportunity for those who are not. Just as the Democrats were held responsible for the state’s and the nation’s economic woes, Republican administrations may now be vulnerable on environmental issues.

The Democratic candidates for governor, who had seized the environmental issue before the oil spill, will try to take advantage of the recent events. John Van de Kamp and his “Big Green” initiative have proposed to establish tanker safety standards and create a $500-million oil spill cleanup superfund, ban chlorofluorocarbons, phase out dangerous pesticides and institute tree-planting. Dianne Feinstein has proposed a growth commission to regulate environmental problems and a department of ocean resources to manage coastal conservation.

Republican candidate Pete Wilson already had called for a California Environmental Protection Agency to direct the state’s environmental policy and asked for restoration of funds to the state’s Coastal Commission. After the oil spill, he called for double hulls on tankers and banning offshore oil drilling. With such efforts, Wilson is trying to establish an agenda separate from his party’s stands on environmental issues.

Wilson’s ability to distance himself from Republican leaders will be critical to his chances. Both Bush and Deukmejian had been accused earlier of waffling on the environment. Just two days before the oil spill, Bush angered environmentalists by refusing to institute an action plan for the global-warming issue. And on Monday, he rejected a ban on offshore drilling. Deukmejian also has voiced his continued support for offshore development.

The spill off the coast of Orange County means that the environment will play a dominant role in the governor’s race. Republicans can no longer avoid the issue. And Democrats will try to amplify it. The November election may, indeed, turn into a referendum on which party is to be trusted with the environment in the 1990s.