Permanent Oil-Drilling Ban Needed

* Since I began my service in Congress, I have worked diligently to protect California’s valuable coastline from any new oil drilling. Recently, extreme environmental lobbyists have used the media to falsely accuse me of changing my position on this issue. Nothing is further from the truth. I still adamantly oppose authorizing any new coastal oil drilling leases for California.

Typical of any radical movement, these organizations choose to pursue knee-jerk reactions, rather than a well thought out legislative strategy. They contend that a drilling moratorium--added annually to the Interior Department’s appropriations bill--provides the best mechanism for protecting our California coastline. However, as a member of the new majority in Congress, I find that such reactions yield little toward achieving our goal of maintaining our pristine California coast.

First, the moratorium provides only a one-year protection. Each year, California’s protection is jeopardized as lawmakers must vote to reinstate this moratorium. There is a better way. We need to change federal policy to permanently protect our environmentally sensitive coastal areas from the impacts of increased offshore oil development. For this reason, I have co-sponsored Rep. Frank Riggs’ (R-Ukiah) legislation to do just that.

Back in 1990, I invited President George Bush to come to my district and listen to my Southern California constituents and their passionate feelings about protecting their coastline. I wanted the President to take back with him to Washington a sense of just how strongly we on the West Coast believe our beautiful coastal waters deserve protection.

President Bush sent out a task force to listen to the concerns of residents in my district. Later that year, the Bush Administration issued an executive statement calling for a moratorium on oil and gas leasing off the coasts of California and Florida until the year 2000. The Clinton Administration has publicly endorsed the Bush policy. The bill I support enacts President Bush’s executive statement into law, permanently protecting the two continental states with the longest coastlines, California and Florida.

I find this legislative mechanism a more thoughtful and comprehensive solution to the offshore oil drilling threat. I encourage those environmentalist organizations, which insist on blindly pursuing the temporary moratorium, to take a step back and rethink their strategy. I invite them to join me in supporting Congressman Riggs’ legislation.

Furthermore, I urge Californians to look beyond the radical environmentalists’ scare tactics and look at the facts. Remember, the moratorium guarantees protection only for one year. The legislative ban I am seeking is permanent. Working together I believe we can enact the best legislative solution to this issue and protect one of the most pristine natural resources the country has to offer.

REP. RON PACKARD

(R-Oceanside) 48th District