Panel opposes new Calif. offshore oil drilling
Associated Press
The Houston Chronicle
06/01/2009
LOS ANGELES — California's three-member State Lands Commission has passed a resolution urging the Legislature not to support a proposed new offshore oil drilling project.
Lt. Gov. John Garamendi and State Controller John Chiang voted in favor of the resolution Monday. The state Finance Department's Tom Sheehy left the meeting before the vote, citing a death in the family.
The commission rejected the drilling proposal in January. But with the state facing a huge budget deficit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is asking the Legislature to resurrect the project as a way to boost state revenue.
The proposed drilling would occur off Santa Barbara and would be the state's first new offshore oil project in more than 40 years.
