California to get first new national marine sanctuary in 32 years, banning offshore oil drilling

[Still Waters]

A long-running effort by native tribes and environmentalists to establish the first new national marine sanctuary along California's coastline in 32 years—the aquatic version of a new national park—where offshore oil drilling would be prohibited forever, reached a key milestone on September 6.

The Biden administration published the final environmental impact statement for the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary, selecting boundaries that will stretch along 116 miles of coast in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.

https://phys.org/news/2024-09-california-national-marine-sanctuary-years.html

[Guyver]

The area being discussed here is known as the Central Coast of California.  Aside from my time in military service, I have lived here all my life.  I was born and raised here.  I understand the concerns over offshore oil drilling, since the dangers of an accident or disaster are real, and do pose a threat to the marine environment.  However, I do have many concerns about this development.  First of all, the offshore platforms have been operating successfully since before I was even born.  During that time we only had one oil leak of any real concern, that I recall. A major cleanup effort followed and the problem was resolved.  Not saying that is not a concern…..but at the same time this industry has provided employment to thousands upon thousands of people, which in turn supports families and our local economy.  The money generated by this industry has literally dumped more money into the local governments and economies than can be imagined.  We already have a marine sanctuary here around the Channel Islands where marine life thrives on a high level.

Anyway….my concern is over the power of the local governments, totally liberal to the extreme, and the freedoms they have been taking away from people consistently over the past decades, and it just keeps getting worse.  Every year they continue to pass laws that prohibit the freedoms of people like myself to use and appreciate our public lands and beaches.  Over environmental concerns for endangered species like the Tiger salamander, the red-legged tree frog, the California condor, and the snowy plover, to name a few….they have literally shut down beaches and national forests for years at a time, and in many cases permanently from public use.  The condor sanctuary I get.  They did that one right to a degree and with the right intentions….but once you use the government to take away things, it’s not easy to get those freedoms back.  In the case of the condor sanctuary, we never got that land usage back and we most likely never will.  They have shut down roads and prohibited access to beaches over the Tiger salamander.  They have taken away our OHV spaces, and not provided and new ones for us to ride.  They have taken away our shooting spots, so that we can’t even go out in the woods to shoot anymore.  There is almost no place left now for us to be able to ride dirt bikes. In some places, we can’t even walk down to the beach.  The government has literally shut down our access to the ocean so that we can’t even walk on the beach.

This is taking things way too far, taking away freedoms from the people over environmental concerns and species protection.  I understand wishing to safeguard and protect the environment, but there also needs to be a balance where people still get to have access to recreational spaces for outdoor activities.  My enduro motorcycle isn’t going to damage any red legged tree frogs, Tiger salamanders, or California condors.  I’m opposed to this because it is too much power in hands of the government and they take things too far without proper justification.

[+and-then]

Back in 2010 a BP oil rig about 40 miles off the Louisiana coast exploded, then sank and turned into the largest oil spill in US history.  It had a devastating economic consequence from Texas to Florida and forced many businesses to close.  That said, there were endless predictions of the damage continuing for decades, then an amazing thing happened.  The Gulf HEALED ITSELF.  The same kind of situation with the same result happened decades earlier from a spill off the Mexican coast of the Gulf.  I have no idea what the ecosystem did to remove the oil but it did.  

My point isn't to say drilling has no negative impacts.  Occasionally, spills and disaster will happen.  As with all other things in this life, it's a trade-off between cost and benefit.

[joseraul]

Awesome!