10 Reasons to Vote Yes on Measure P (Any One is Enough!) 1. You don’t want to be surrounded by 10,000 new oil wells emitting toxic chemicals. The oil industry has made it clear that they want so many new wells that they will turn Santa Barbara County into a Bakersfield-like nightmare. Almost 1,000 have already been applied for and thousands more are coming if Measure P fails. 2. You are concerned about fracking and other new and riskier oil extraction. This is not your granddaddy’s oil. New forms of fracking, acididization and steam injection unquestionably present new and very serious risks to the public. Measure P only bans these techniques that fracture, dissolve and melt underground formations under intense heat and high pressure. It does not apply to any current oil wells or conventional production used in the majority of wells today. 3. You believe the scientific consensus about climate change. This is some of the heaviest, most polluting oil in the world and would double greenhouse gas emissions in the county. Santa Barbara County should be lowering emissions and building the clean energy economy of the future instead. 4. You don’t want to run out of water. These techniques use and permanently pollute millions of gallons of water. According to State Senator Pavley’s office, in 2013, enhanced oil recovery operations used more than 80 billion gallons of water in California. We shouldn’t permanently pollute our precious water by oil production ever – much less in the middle of a record drought. 5. You would like to be able to drink from the tap. These wells would be drilled through our drinking water aquifers and near creeks and rivers that flow to our lakes and reservoirs. Spills are inevitable. ERG had 24 violations, including 6 spills in their first year of operation. As extreme extraction ramps up, so do spills and risk of catastrophic impacts. Below-ground fractures and leaks or above ground spills could contaminate the water supply. Once your water is polluted, it is gone forever. 6. You don’t want to increase your chances of getting cancer. According to the EPA, these extreme processes for oil extraction emit chemicals known to cause cancer and other serious health impacts including benzene, ethylbenzene, hydrogen sulfide, and n-hexane. The waste water is permanently polluted with toxic chemicals and naturally occurring toxins, radioactive compounds, arsenic, lead and other contaminants. Cancer and birth defect clusters have been documented near these operations in peer-reviewed journals. 7. You don’t want to increase the chances of earthquakes. The US Geological survey has found definitively that the more than 4-fold increase in large earthquakes in the central and eastern US, “coincides with the injection of wastewater from oil and gas production.” Santa Barbara County is riddled with fault lines, and we don’t want to risk triggering a major earthquake here. 8. You would like a strong economy and to preserve county taxes and revenues. Measure P would not affect any current oil production, jobs, tax revenue or county services. Oil is a tiny fraction of our economy, less than 1% of jobs and county revenue, but extreme extraction puts the other 99% of our economy in ag, tourism and tech at risk. Studies show that counties more reliant on oil extraction have lower wages and job growth because it discourages other, healthier economic development. Kern County has thirty times more oil production than our county, but also higher unemployment and more poverty. 9. You’re not a big fan of corruption. If a fracking application can get three votes it will be approved and that is why the oil industry spent a quarter-million dollars trying to buy the Second District County Supervisor seat in the June election. Oil companies have gotten themselves positions in local government and on the Air Resources Board, which is supposed to regulate pollution. The huge amount of outside oil money pouring in to influence local elections has wide ranging implications that compromise our local democracy. Millions of dollars opposing Measure P have come from Chevron, Texas-based Freeport McMoRan, Venoco, which has fracked both on and offshore, PCE and Chinese-owned ERG. 10. You trust the public interest advocates over big oil. Measure P is endorsed by the Sierra Club, the EDC, The CEC, Audubon, Channel Keeper and other environmental organizations that monitor emerging environmental risks. It is endorsed by Nurses and Physician Associations concerned about public health. It is endorsed by the California Water Impact Network and Water Board members who understand the safety of our water supply. It is endorsed by teachers, school board members and unions who care about our kids and economic stability. It is endorsed by civic and land use associations like Citizens Planning Association, the Carpinteria Valley Alliance and Santa Ynez Velley Alliance that monitor land use planning. Its endorsed by five times more elected officials than the opposition, including our State Senator, State Assemblyman, City Council members from Carpinteria, Santa Barbara, Goleta, Lompoc and Santa Maria, by the Democratic Party and four former County Supervisors. It is endorsed by businesses, by farmers and vintners concerned about our food supply and their economic well-being. These are the people -- across the political spectrum – who protect the public interest against attacks by special interests. They are telling you that we need Measure P. Who do you trust? Vote YES on P!
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 04:36:33 +0000
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