Offshore Oil drilling in California and the Native’s Fight Against It.

Written by: Chad Gibson

Figure 1: photo from work.chron.com     

               The area of San Diego California and areas around it are places I have spent a lot of time in my life. I was in that area a lot when I was in the military and loved the local area very much. I have a lot of fond memories there, and remember the weather was almost always perfect. It is a place that I have went back to many times after I was living elsewhere, because it is a great place to vacation and spend time. Recently I have learned that there is a proposal by the federal government to create offshore oil drilling. This is a fairly new idea, and I learned that Native American tribes and organizations are fighting this proposal. Not only are Natives fighting the proposed oil drilling but, so are a lot of locals. This is different in that it is not only affecting one tribe, but many tribes and others as well. It is widespread all over the coasts of the United States. The size of this potential problem among native communities and that it is possibly affecting the southern California area that I know and am fond of, made me want to find out more on this topic.

            In January of 2018 the United States Department of the Interior proposed a plan to make offshore drilling available to more than ninety percent of the ocean including the Pacific, Atlantic, and Alaska regions (Lopez-Villafaña 2019). This proposal is named the National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing program (Lopez-Villafaña 2019). If finalized this plan would open seven leases off of the coast of California (Lopez-Villafaña 2019). It is speculated that the area off the coast of Oceanside California has a possible reserve of oil and gas (Lopez-Villafaña 2019). Oceanside California is located just north of San Diego a little ways and borders Camp Pendleton California a large Marine Corps base.

            There are some native peoples in southern California that are against offshore oil drilling (Lopez-Villafaña 2019). One is Melissa Hill who is a Kumeyaay Native. She describes her people as having cultural connection that is deep to the coast and the ocean. She further explains that Native tribes were pushed further inland over time they still have a connection to the ocean and are actively engaging their culture to get back to being close with the ocean (Lopez-Villafaña 2019). Another, Marc Chavez who is the founder of Native Like Water, a nonprofit indigenous education organization, explains that many Native groups used to live next to the water and explains the Native’s as having a “sacred relationship to water (Lopez-Villafaña 2019).” Angela Mooney D’Arcy who is a member of the Acjachemen tribe, and protestor of the proposed off shore drilling in California (Rasmussen 2018). She showed her tribes long relation with the coast when she stated at a protest that “We as the Acjachemen people along with all of our relatives up and down the coast, have been protecting these coastlands and keeping them beautiful and sustainable for all of you for thousands of years (Rasmussen 2018).”

            These native peoples do not want offshore oil rigs off of the coast for good reason. In 1969 near Santa Barbara California there was an offshore oil rig that malfunctioned and introduced three million gallons of oil into the area creating a thirty-five-mile oil slick (Grad 2017). There was a large impact to the ecosystem of the coastline and the marine biology in the area (Grad 2017). Native peoples do not want their sacred waters contaminated with possible oil spills or other contaminates from the process of mining. Southern California tribes are not alone in this situation. The proposed drilling area goes all the way up the Pacific coast into Alaska. Two tribes that live on the coast in Washington state, the Makah and Quinault tribes also have members that are opposed to the offshore oil drilling (La Corte 2018). Both tribes use the ocean for resources and depend on the fishing for their food and their economy (La Corte 2018). These members do not want to have oil rigs in their waters possibly contaminating the ecosystem and harming their resources (La Corte 2018).

            On the other side of the argument there are those who feel the drilling for oil and gas would benefit the United States. Bethany Marcum who is the executive director of the Alaska Policy Forum writes that “drilling along the Pacific Coast could create over 300,000 jobs, generating $160 in new economic activity (Marcum 2018).” She also explains that since the year 2010 the oil and gas industry has put over one hundred new standards of safety in place to prevent spills and has twenty-five projects in the industry to improve the management of the environment (Marcum 2018). In Marcum’s view the proposed offshore oil and gas drilling grow the economy, create jobs, and reduce carbon emissions since natural gas is cleaner burning than coal (Marcum 2018).

            Further showing support for the offshore drilling of oil and gas are many government executives. United States Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke proposed this plan for offshore oil and gas drilling. In a press release on the Department of the Interior website, Secretary Zinke is quoted as saying “Responsibly developing our energy resources on the Outer Continental Shelf in a safe and well-regulated way is important to our economy and energy security, and it provides billions of dollars to fund the conservation of our coastlines, public lands, and parks (U.S. Department of the Interior 2018).” On the same website Katherine MacGregor who is the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management also agrees that the offshore drilling is a positive thing. She is quoted as saying “This plan is an early signal to the global marketplace that the United States intends to remain a global leader in responsible offshore energy development and produce affordable American energy for many decades to come… (U.S. Department of the Interior 2018)”

            In closing on one side of the argument are many Native American cultures that have a significant relationship with the ocean and coastline near where they live or used to live. Some even depend on the ocean for their livelihood. Neither want to see their sacred places polluted or destroyed by oil and gas drilling. With them are many other American citizens who are also opposed to the drilling due to the same environmental hazards. On the other side you have some government officials who are supporters of the drilling to better the economy and believe that the drilling would be minimally harmful to the environment. I see merit to both sides of this argument. I do not want to see coastlines or ecosystems destroyed. Nor do I want to see Native communities suffer due to the loss of their sacred waters and the resources it produces for them. However, I do believe that drilling is safer today environmentally than it was in the past. I do also believe that drilling for oil and gas in the Pacific would help the American economy. Perhaps there can be common ground here. Maybe there can be a compromise with the amount of oil and gas wells installed offshore. Perhaps there could be regulations on how many can be installed in a certain geographical area.

Sources

Grad, Shelby. 2017. “The environmental disaster that changed California- and started the movement against offshore oil drilling.” Los Angeles Times. 4/28/2017. Accessed 4/10/2019. https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-santa-barbara-spill-20170428-htmlstory.html. 

La Corte, Rachel. 2018. “Washington AG threatens suit over offshore drilling plans.” Peninsula Daily News. 2/07/2018. Accessed 04/11/2019. http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/politics/washington-ag-threatens-suit-over-offshore-drilling-plans/

Lopez-Villafaña, Andrea. 2019. “Local Native American tribes fight for the coast.” San Diego CityBeat. 3/6/2019. Accessed 4/11/2019. http://sdcitybeat.com/news-and-       opinion/news/local-native-american-tribes-fight-for-the-coast/

Marcum, Bethany. 2018. “Want To Save The Environment? Support Offshore   Drilling.” The Daily Caller. 5/03/2018. Accessed 4/11/2019. https://dailycaller.com/2018/05/03/want-to-save-the-environment-support-offshore-drilling/

Rasmussen, Emily. 2018. “Local Native American tribes and environmentalists are ‘Turning the Tide’ to join forces in contemporary activism.” Dana Point Times. 2/12/2018. Accessed 4/11/2019. https://www.danapointtimes.com/local-native-american-tribes-environmentalists-turning-tide-join-forces-contemporary-activism/.

U.S. Department of the Interior. 2018 . ”Press Releases.”  www.doi.gov. 1/04/2018. Accessed 04/10/2019. https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/secretary-zinke-announces-plan-unleashing-americas-offshore-oil-and-gas-potential.