Santa Barbara County No Longer Opposes Offshore Drilling
Aug 27, 2008 – The New York Times reported that supervisors voted 3-2 to end to end the county’s decades long opposition to offshore drilling that was ignited by the 1969 oil spill that covered its coastline. As we mentioned earlier, this is further evidence of the public leading politicians. The Public Policy Institute recently reported a 10% increase to 51% in the percentage of Californians now supporting offshore drilling. Gasoline price increases in 2007 and 2008 have changed the public’s collective mind. Gov. Schwarzenegger is still a proponent of the Congressional moratorium on offshore drilling. Bush 43 proposed rescinding the executive order against offshore drilling signed by Bush 41. McCain supports drilling on the outer continental shelf.
Is anyone keeping track of population growth and its effect on our ability to meet our energy needs with green energy as well as traditional energy. As the US goes from 300 million to 450 million, a 50% increase, we would need a 33% decrease in per capita usage just to stay even. On a worldwide basis per capita usage is going up, not down, as the developing country populations increase their energy requirements switching from bicycles to cars.
