top
San Francisco
San Francisco
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature

Expansion Of Offshore Drilling Or The Gulf Of Farallones National Marine Sanctuary

by Tomas DiFiore
Why expand a National Marine Sanctuary on the North Coast of California when there are Marine Protected Areas created recently under the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative? The answer is as long as that slant drilled borehole from shore to an offshore hydrocarbon reservoir... and each year, it's another full court press to gain access to coastal States offshore hydrocarbon resources. With just 2 days left to make public comment on expanding the northern boundary of the Gulf of Farallones National Marine Sanctuary further north than just the southern Mendocino Coast at Point Arena, read on....
800_farallones_nat_marine_santuary_expansion_deadline.jpg
Expansion Of Offshore Drilling Or The Gulf Of Farallones National Marine Sanctuary

Are Gas Prices Too High?

Doc Hastings is back with another (ever expanding) Drill Bill, a fourth attempt - since 2011. It's called the 'Drill Everywhere Bill' by some – all US coasts, expanding State Waters Jourisdiction, etc. More on that later in this article.

But first, RIGHT NOW - Support expansion of the Cordell Bank and Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary all the way to the Oregon Border. Sanctuary 'PROTECTION' is stronger than Marine Protected Areas (even State Marine Reserves-SMR) against Industrialization – particularly offshore oil and gas development, and Sanctuaries allow fishing and food gathering. No Drill, No Spill.

June 30, 2014 is the deadline for submitting a comment to NOAA:

Submit an electronic public comment via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NOS-2012-0228

Click on the appropriate “Comment Now!” icon, complete the required fields, and enter or attach your comments. If you have comments on more than one of the documents, you can record them by individual document (preferred) or as a combined comment on any of the four documents. All comments will be considered.

"Public participation has always proven essential to achieving the protection provided by our National Marine Sanctuaries here on our coast," said Richard Charter, Senior Fellow with The Ocean Foundation, "This is history in the making, in terms of our generation's unique opportunity right now to leave this spectacular coastal heritage intact for our grandchildren."

A free citizen's guide to the planned Marine Sanctuary Expansion can be downloaded at:
http://SanctuaryExpansion.org

One might think to pose the question; Why an expanded Marine Sanctuary on the North Coast when there are marine Protected Areas created recently under the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative? The answer is as long as that slant drilled borehole from shore to an offshore hydrocarbon reservoir....

Bill To Ban Oil Drilling In Marine Protected Area Passes California Assembly
by Dan Bacher
http://www.fishsniffer.com/blogs/details/bill-to-ban-oil-drilling-in-marine-protected-area-passes/

A bill to ban offshore oil drilling in state waters in the Santa Barbara Channel known as Tranquillon Ridge passed out of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee on June 26 by a vote of 6 to 2. Zeke Grader, Executive Director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA), praised Senator Jackson for sponsoring the bill.

The passage of the bill through the Committee sheds the spotlight on two glaring loopholes in the implementation of California environmental law – one in the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative’s creation of “marine protected areas” and the other in the California Coastal Sanctuary Act. “I’m glad she’s doing it,” said Grader. “We should have bans on oil drilling in all of the marine protected areas. This bill highlights what a failure the MLPA Initiative was.”

Senate Bill 1096, sponsored by State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), now heads to the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Much respect and appreciation-Assemblymembers Chesbro, Garcia, Muratsuchi, Skinner, Stone and Williams all voted yes.


And Why Are Gas Prices So High?

The Doc Hastings Solution:
"Lowering Gasoline Prices to Fuel an America That Works Act of 2014"
a.k.a. Foreign Owned Oil & Gas Driller Welfare Act (available only in the United States)

In 2013 it was called HR 2231 "Offshore Energy and Jobs Act". Back again for 2014 and called the “Lowering Gasoline Prices to Fuel an America That Works Act”, HR 4899 will give oil companies the ability to put drilling rigs up and down the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.
http://irregulartimes.com/2014/06/27/congress-protects-plan-to-allow-foreign-governments-to-drill-oil-for-free-in-american-waters/

Similar House-approved measures have died in the Senate, but House Republicans hope this bill, called the "Lowering Gasoline Prices to Fuel an America That Works Act", will gain greater support amid a rise in gas prices.

Rising to the Truth Challenge is House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Peter DeFazio (D-OR)

“Since the Republican majority first brought this bill to the Floor after taking the House back in 2011, U.S. oil production has gone from 5.6 million barrels a day to 8.3 million barrels a day-nearly a 50 percent jump. President Obama is presiding over record production levels and plummeting imports, while the exact opposite happened under President Bush. The Energy Information Administration is projecting record levels of offshore production by 2016.”
http://www.nationaljournal.com/library/168950

Rep. Lois Capps, (D-Calif), who's district is based in Santa Barbara, assailed House GOP leaders for trying to "override the will of my constituents and California voters who overwhelmingly oppose new offshore drilling."

Here are a 5 of 19 amendments;
1. Extends State jurisdiction over submerged lands and to allow States to grant oil and natural gas leases in the extended area. The extension will cover 12 nautical miles from the coastline, which repeals the current law of 3 geographical miles.
2. Prohibits the Secretary from canceling, deferring or withdrawing any lease previously announced to be auctioned based on public comments received by the Department after the public comment period has expired.
3. Grants the Secretary of the Interior the ability to add a lease sale area to a finalized 5 year plan, as long as all of the National Environmental Policy Act requirements have been met on that specific area within the last 5 years.
4. Strikes section 10410 which prohibits BOEM and BSEE from coordinating coastal and marine spatial planning under the National Ocean Policy.
5. Ensures Section 10203, relating to oil and gas lease sales in the Southern California planning area, and Subtitle C of Title I, relating to OCS revenue sharing with coastal states, have no force or effect. * In 2011, it read: Amends the OCSLA to include within the OCS any submerged lands lying within the U.S. exclusive economic zone and the Continental Shelf adjacent to any U.S. territory. Outer Continental Shelf Revenue Sharing - (Sec. 17501) Amends OCSLA to set forth requirements for the phased-in disposition of new leasing revenues among coastal states affected by the leases under which those revenues are received. Sets forth a scheme for allocation of new leasing revenues to coastal states within 200 miles of a leased tract in amounts inversely proportional to the respective distances between the point on the coastline of each such state that is closest to the geographic center of the lease tract. *In 2012 it read “ a scheme for allocation of new leasing revenues to coastal states” based on population.

Same Frac, Different Day

In 2013 Representative Sandy Levin (D-Michigan) and Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee, argued that H.R. 2231 “would have mandated lease sales along the east and west coasts and elsewhere with inadequate environmental review and scant attention given to local concerns. In total, leasing would have been mandated off the coasts of 14 states, whether they wanted it or not.”

“Last July (2012) the Republican Leadership brought a nearly identical bill before the House. That bill never advanced beyond the House, and this drilling bill won’t either. The Senate won’t take it up. The President has said he’d veto it, so other than demonstrating the Majority’s fealty to Big Oil, why are we again wasting the House’s time on this?”

“We’re told that this bill is about making the U.S. more energy independent. Let the record show that domestic energy production is booming under the current Administration’s policies. In 2012, American oil production reached a 20-year high. Natural gas production is at an all-time high. The U.S. is expected to surpass Saudi Arabia as the world’s top oil producer within seven years.”

“We’re also told that this bill is all about driving down gas prices for American families. What guarantee do we have that the oil and gas production mandated by this legislation would actually stay in the United States? Over the last decade, U.S. exports of petroleum products like gasoline and diesel fuel have nearly tripled. Every day U.S. refineries export millions of gallons of refined petroleum products, including gasoline and diesel. This is no doubt good for the petroleum industry’s bottom line, but it’s hard to argue that it helps consumers at the pump.”

Of Course HR 4899 For 2014 Has A Plan For 1 Million New Jobs

“In each oil and gas leasing program under this section, the Secretary shall make available for leasing and conduct lease sales including at least 50 percent of the available unleased acreage
within each outer Continental Shelf planning area considered to have the largest undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources (on a total btu basis) based upon the most recent national geologic assessment of the outer Continental Shelf, with an emphasis on offering the most geologically prospective parts of the planning area. In this paragraph the term ‘available unleased acreage’ means that portion of the outer Continental Shelf that is not under lease at the time of a proposed lease sale, and that has not otherwise been made unavailable for leasing by law.”

Complete Consideration of H.R. 4899 - "Lowering Gasoline Prices to Fuel an America That Works Act of 2014" (Rep. Hastings (WA) - Natural Resources/Judiciary).
http://www.democraticwhip.gov/content/daily-whip-thursday-june-26-2014

“Title I of the bill is comprised of H.R. 2231 - “Offshore Energy and Jobs Act.” This bill would direct the Interior Department to develop a new five-year offshore leasing plan that makes available for oil and gas exploration and development at least 50% of the unleased coastal areas with the most potential for energy production. The bill would create a nationwide revenue sharing system so coastal states would receive a 37.5% share of the federal royalties (revenue from offshore oil and gas leasing and development is currently one of the largest non-tax revenue streams for the federal government). This provision would allow states to use these revenues “for any purpose as determined by the laws of that State.” The bill also requires the plan to establish a domestic oil and natural gas production goal under the Administration’s current 2012–2017 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) leasing plan of 3 million barrels of oil per day and 10 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day by 2027 (which is triple current production levels). Lastly, the bill requires that drilling be allowed off the coasts of California, South Carolina, and Virginia, and statutorily reorganizes the Interior Department agencies that oversee offshore leasing and permitting, safety inspections and revenue collection.”

“Title II of the bill, comprised of H.R. 1965 – “Federal Lands Jobs and Energy Security Act” – combines 5 Republican bills related to onshore drilling. The first bill, H.R. 1965, would require the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to lease at least 25% of lands nominated by the oil and gas industry and to automatically approve any permit which has not been formally decided upon within 60 days. Further, it limits judicial review to 60 days after an approval and prohibits prevailing plaintiffs from recouping court and attorney’s fees.”

“The second bill, H.R. 1394, would direct Federal land managers to manage lands for the primary purpose of energy and mineral production, making all other uses, like hunting, fishing, camping, grazing, and conservation, secondary.”

“The third bill, H.R. 1964, would require the Secretary of the Interior to develop regulations to require action on drilling permits in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) within 60 days, despite existing regulations that already require consideration of such applications within 90 days. Further, it would require the BLM to ensure that NPR-A leases are within 25 miles of roads and pipelines, forcing the development of a road and pipeline network despite no pending BLM applications to construct either.”

“The fourth bill, H.R. 555, would give the Secretary of the Interior the ability to conduct further onshore oil and gas lease sales using internet-based auctions, but does not require the Secretary to do so.”

“The fifth bill, H.R. 1548, would prohibit BLM from enforcing fracking regulations on tribal lands without the consent of the tribal government.”

This Is Where The Buffalo Shit Really Hits The Fan

Tribal Energy Resource Agreement (TERA)
http://teeic.anl.gov/abouttera/index.cfm

A Tribal Energy Resource Agreement (TERA) grants authority to a tribe to review and approve leases, business agreements, and rights-of-way for energy development on tribal lands.
Title V of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 amends several sections of Title XXVI of the Energy Policy Act of 1992. Specifically, Sec. 2604 is amended to require that the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) establish a process by which a tribe can obtain a Tribal Energy Resource Agreement (TERA) granting authority to the tribe to review, approve, and manage leases, business agreements, and rights-of-way for energy development on tribal lands, without the approval of the Secretary of the Interior.

In March 2008, the DOI issued its final TERA regulations (25 CFR Part 224).
http://teeic.anl.gov/documents/docs/Final_TERA_Regs_(03-10-2008).pdf

A main component of the regulations regarding a tribe’s approval authority for leases, business agreements, and rights-of-way is ensuring compliance with environmental laws.

“Under the regulations a tribe must include in its TERA: all required provisions for the tribe’s and any third party’s compliance with Federal environmental laws in regard to leases, business agreements, and rights-of-way entered into or granted under an approved TERA; provisions that the tribe include public notice and opportunity for public comment on the potential environmental effects of leases, business agreements, and rights-of-way a tribe proposes to enter into or grant under an approved TERA; provisions that the tribe notify the Secretary of any violation or breach; provisions that acknowledge that the Secretary may take various actions, including reassumption of the authority granted in a TERA, when the Secretary finds that there is imminent jeopardy to a physical trust asset; and the Secretary’s remedies for an interested party who shows that an interest of the party has sustained or will sustain an adverse environmental impact as a result of a tribe’s non-compliance with the terms of an approved TERA.”

“The Secretary will also develop with a tribe in the application process, include in an approved TERA, and conduct throughout the period an approved TERA is in effect, periodic reviews and evaluations of the tribe’s performance of the energy resource development activities a tribe
undertakes. In addition, in conducting review of a tribe’s TERA application, the Secretary
will perform a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review consistent with the scope of the tribe’s proposed energy resource development in the TERA.”

Anyways,
you can always tell
when an oil industry legislator is lying - their lips are moving.

Recently, BP put out their latest statistical review, and they said the US had "one of the largest single year increases in oil production in the history of the world."

The United States is producing 62 percent more oil than it did back in 2008, however gas prices have remained unchanged.

Currently, gasoline and diesel exports have reached over a half billion barrels a year, nearly quadruple the amount in 2007. The United States has such an abundance of oil right now, the American Petroleum Institute has made it their mission to overturn the ban on exporting crude so producers can start shipping American oil to India and China. H.R. 4899 would just make it easier for hugely-profitable oil companies to access more American oil that they'll try to send overseas for higher prices.

America's Resources For America – Ban Fracking Now!

No Exploding Oil Trains In Our San Francisco and East Bay Area!

And remember, you can't fix stupid … HR 4899 will never make it. Just do your part!

We must protect our ocean food web, rivers, groundwater recharge systems and the air; our health and our children's health depend on a healthy functioning environment. Make a comment and/or a protest sign!

(Tribes, TERA, Tribal Governments, Tribal Members)
Published on May 28, 2014
In November 2011, the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa in northern North Dakota became the first preemptively to ban oil and gas drilling ('fracking') on their reservation. Cedar Gillette of "No Fracking Way Turtle Mountain" told GRITtv's Laura Flanders why.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNAZqsfx1_Q

And here's a link (8 videos on fracking) from an interesting site; ThoughtMaybe
Watch FREE - Gasland 2, Fracking Hell, Split Estate, Sky Is Pink, more...
http://thoughtmaybe.com/gasland2/

STEAM INJECTION IS LITERALLY GLOBAL WARMING
constant comments, and informative research links;
http://banslickwaterfracking.blogspot.com/

Tomas DiFiore



We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$110.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network