Is the Tranquillon Ridge offshore drilling proposal dead? That's the word coming out of Sacramento today as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger told reporters that he will no longer support the project. From KQED's John Myers, who has really established himself as one of the state's leading reporters, going from moderating the Whitman/Poizner debate last night to being the first to report on this scoop via Twitter:

Big news. Schwarzenegger officially removes support for Tranquillon Ridge oil drilling project..based, he says, on Gulf oil spill.

Schwarzenegger says of Gulf spill: "That will not happen in CA." His rejection of T-Ridge probably kills the project.

Schwarzenegger's rejection of the T-Ridge oil project also means an extra hole - $200 mil - in the #cabudget that he'll need 2 fill.

"Why would we want to take that risk?" Schwarzenegger says in response 2 reporter's question about abandoning T-Ridge oil project.

Similarly, Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado told his Assembly confirmation hearing he wasn't likely to support Tranquillon Ridge. A spill there would have devastated much of his former State Senate district's coastline. Maldonado now has a seat on the State Lands Commission, and now that he's joined by his BFF Arnold in opposing T-Ridge, it's very unlikely the proposal will go anywhere anytime soon.

But is John Meyers right - is T-Ridge dead? Meg Whitman has supported offshore drilling recently, but with the Louisiana spill she might be joining Arnold in reconsidering that support.

It remains to be seen whether PXP, the Texas oil company backing Tranquillon Ridge, will abandon their plans. It also remains to be seen whether EDC, the Santa Barbara environmental group that has controversially agreed to back the Tranquillon Ridge project, is reconsidering their stance in light of the Gulf disaster that has already brought back memories of the 1969 spill in Santa Barbara.

It's obvious now that the offshore drilling bubble of public support has burst, and not a moment too soon. Offshore drilling was always an unusually bad idea, a destructive way to avoid the need to develop alternative, renewable, clean energy to power economic recovery and prosperity in the 21st century. Let's hope Arnold's abandonment of support for T-Ridge means the proposal finally dies.

UPDATE: The Sacramento Bee has some good quotes from Arnold:

"I think that first of all, it's clear that we have to make up that $100 million a year that we (would) make from that," he said. "But if I have a choice between the $100 million and what I see in the Gulf of Mexico, I'd rather just figure out how to make up for that $100 million."...

"I think that we all go through the endless amount of studies and research and everything, and before you make a decision like that, you are convinced that this will be safe," the governor added. "But then again, you know, you see that, you turn on television and see this enormous disaster and you say to yourself, why would we want to take that risk?"

It's one of those rare, rare moments, but Arnold is absolutely right. Why on earth would California want to take this risk? Offshore oil drilling is a dangerous and now obsolete practice that belongs in the past. We need to hold a firm line against it and ensure that existing rigs come down as soon as possible.

"A Renewed Call to Truth, Prudence, and Protection of the Poor
An Evangelical Examination of the Theology, Science, and Economics of Global Warming

The world is in the grip of an idea: that burning fossil fuels to provide affordable, abundant energy is causing global warming that will be so dangerous that we must stop it by reducing our use of fossil fuels, no matter the cost.

Is that idea true?"

Find out here   Read More »

Valero CEO Bill Klesse, Meg Whitman, Carly Fiorina, and the other right-wingers and oil companies trying to destroy California's economy and environmental future by "suspending" AB 32 indefinitely. They've gone around peddling debunked studies claiming AB 32 would hurt jobs (actually, it helps create new, green jobs that are harder to offshore).

And yet for all their efforts, they haven't been able to change the fact that large majorities of Californians support the global warming law and its methods, as the Field Poll found:

In 2006 California passed a new law that requires the state to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that cause global warming by about 17 percent over the next ten years. Generally speaking, do you favor or oppose this new law?

Favor: 58%
Oppose: 38%

One way to achieve this goal is to charge a fee to those companies that release greenhouse gases over their permitted level. The state would then return most of the money collected from this fee back to all state residents either directly or through a reduction in taxes. Generally speaking, do you favor or oppose this proposal?

Favor: 64%
Oppose: 31%

Do you agree strongly, agree somewhat, disagree somewhat or disagree strongly with the following statement: "I believe California can reduce greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming and expand jobs and economic prosperity at the same time."

Agree: 69%
Disagree: 29%

I'd have liked Next10/Field to ask about using money generated from cap-and-trade fees to fund things like high speed rail, local mass transit operations, and solar panels, but this is still a pretty solid sign that the public is all in favor of the carbon reduction rules AB 32 set up.

In that latter question, "agree" was at 74% in 2008 and 83% in 2007, but 69% is still an enormous amount of support for creating jobs through green technology. There's no way the right-wingers can spin that as anything but a huge rejection of their attack on California's green jobs and global warming action.

Of course, they'll try. That's why Courage Campaign and CREDO are committed to Boycott Valero. Valero CEO Bill Klesse has responded to at least one Courage Campaign member so far - send him a message yourself and remind him that Californians don't want a Texas oil company telling them what to do.

Plus, it's good to see statewide Democratic candidates like Kamala Harris stand up for AB 32 as well.

California's Sarah Palin (aka Meg Whitman) has taken notice of the Courage Campaign radio ad launched today on radio stations across the state educating the public about Whitman's position on global warming. She just sent this email out to her list:

Dear Supporter,

A group of liberal activists headed by Howard Dean's former California campaign chair today launched a negative radio ad attacking Meg Whitman for her common-sense, pro-jobs environmental policies.

Fight back with Meg. She has led the call to put a one-year moratorium on California's AB 32, which has been estimated to negatively affect one million jobs in California. California cannot afford to hastily implement new environmental regulations that could further delay our economic recovery.

Coincidentally, the attack ad debuted on the same day that a new poll was released showing that Meg is beating the likely Democratic nominee Jerry Brown among independent voters.

National Democrats have already named Meg a top target and now the liberal "Courage Campaign" is taking up the call.

See their attack here.

Can we count on you to help beat these special interest groups and restore California? If you can contribute $15, $25 or $50, please link here to help fight back.

It's not surprising that Democrats and their special interest groups are already working hard to try to defeat Meg in the Republican primary. They want their chosen candidate, likely Jerry Brown, to face a different, weaker Republican candidate next November. We are not going to let that happen.

Thank you,
Jillian Hasner
Campaign Manager, Meg Whitman 2010

Some quick points. First, it was indeed entirely coincidental that our ad launched the day the PPIC poll came out. We'd been planning this ad for about a week now, but had no clue that PPIC was even doing a poll, certainly not that they were going to release it today. Not that it would have made any difference.

Contrary to Jillian Hasner's claims, the Courage Campaign does not endorse candidates for elected office. Jerry Brown is not our "chosen candidate" - we don't have one, period.

The Courage Campaign's goal is simply to make the public aware of Whitman's views on global warming legislation. Specifically, that she believes AB 32 should be suspended.

Looks like we've succeeded in that quest. If you want to help get that message aired more broadly on radio stations in California, click here to listen to the ad and donate to expand the buy.

   Read More »

The new Energy Secretary, UC Berkeley physicist Steven Chu, has offered a chilling warning to California of the consequences of unchecked global warming - consequences we're already witnessing:

"I don't think the American public has gripped in its gut what could happen," he said. "We're looking at a scenario where there's no more agriculture in California." And, he added, "I don't actually see how they can keep their cities going" either....

Chu warned of water shortages plaguing the West and Upper Midwest and particularly dire consequences for California, his home state, the nation's leading agricultural producer.

In a worst case, Chu said, up to 90% of the Sierra snowpack could disappear, all but eliminating a natural storage system for water vital to agriculture.

One of those cities facing severe crisis already is Bolinas, in Marin County:

The oceanside enclave in Marin County has enacted some of the state's toughest water restrictions. Each customer - with the exception of schools and some businesses - may use no more than 150 gallons a day, about 4,500 gallons each month.

A third violation of the order would allow the Bolinas Community Public Utility District to cut off water.

Without drastic cutbacks, officials say, the community of 1,200 could run out of water by the end of April. The town on the southern end of the Point Reyes Peninsula already is drawing from two emergency reservoirs, one of which is effectively empty.

There are a lot of California cities that are nervously watching Bolinas and the dry reservoirs, including Monterey. Sure, we're due to get some rain tonight, but the estimates are that we'll get 1-2 inches tops out of the two storms lined up in the Pacific. At this point we need a deluge reminiscent of March and April 2006 to recharge our reservoirs, severely depleted by three months of drought.

Back to Secretary Chu - he offered a strong warning to Americans about the need to not delay action on global warming and sustainable energy use:

He said the threat of warming is keeping policymakers focused on alternatives to fossil fuel, even though gasoline prices have fallen over the last six months from historic highs. But he said public awareness needs to catch up. He compared the situation to a family buying an old house and being told by an inspector that it must pay a hefty sum to rewire it or risk an electrical fire that could burn everything down.

"I'm hoping that the American people will wake up," Chu said, and pay the cost of rewiring.

One of those who ought to be listening is Senator Barbara Boxer, who was yesterday reported to be working with global warming denier Jim Inhofe to divert $50 billion in transit funding for highways. Massive pressure from transit activists has led Boxer to lessen the damage somewhat but she is still working with Inhofe, for reasons that defy all logic and common sense, and Transportation for America which has led this fight still opposes the amendment.

As the US Senate fiddles, and as the Yacht Party actively seeks to destroy our state's government, California is going dry. The climate crisis is here.

I yearn for the day I no longer have to write titles like that:

Democrats have decided to allow a quarter-century ban on drilling for oil off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to expire next week, conceding defeat in a months-long battle with the White House and Republicans set off by $4 a gallon gasoline prices this summer.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., told reporters Tuesday that a provision continuing the moratorium will be dropped this year from a stopgap spending bill to keep the government running after Congress recesses for the election.

Republicans have made lifting the ban a key campaign issue after gasoline prices spiked this summer and public opinion turned in favor of more drilling. President Bush lifted an executive ban on offshore drilling in July.

"If true, this capitulation by Democrats following months of Republican pressure is a big victory for Americans struggling with record gasoline prices," said House GOP leader John Boehner of Ohio. (AP via SFGate)

To her credit Dianne Feinstein is outraged, sending out this statement a few minutes ago:

I think it's awful. This battle is not over. We will come back and fight another day - that's for sure.

I regret the House appropriations committee didn't see fit to go with a better, more widely accepted alternative, which would have kept in place a moratorium 50 miles or more off shore. In my view, there were better options than this.

Once again the Democratic Congress caves to Republicans who say "boo!" Drilling had faded from public consciousness and Democrats would have done well to insist

Especially as bailouts are being discussed, you'd think Democrats would not want to be sending any signals that they can wave the white flag if pressured to do so.

Dems would have done well to listen to Van Jones, who at Netroots Nation in July explained the need to move from opposition to proposition - that the only way we will beat back the drilling push is to aggressively propose a more sensible and sustainable alternative. Dems didn't do that, and once again they've failed at politics and failed America.

Sure, they might restore the ban next year - but it's not clear if it will be a total moratorium, or if this will have opened a door that can't be closed again. And if McCain wins, Congress will have a very difficult time reimposing a moratorium.

Otherwise they've signed a death warrant for California's oceans and those who depend on them for a living.

Our governor was on This Week this morning and as Arnold has a largely undeserved reputation for being an environmentalist George Stephanopoulos decided to ask him some questions on that topic. The answers were quite revealing, and should give Obama a major opening to attack McCain should he be interested in doing so.   Read More »

Crossposted from my high speed rail blog where there is a lot more information on the project

The Senate Transportation Committee today approved AB 3034 by an 8-4 vote. But as Erik Nelson at the Contra Costa Times reports it included some great amendments, including Sen. Leland Yee's plan to restore the primacy of LA-SF:   Read More »

When you drive along Highway 101 near Santa Barbara, or Highway 1 in Huntington Beach, it's hard to miss the many oil rigs on the ocean's horizon. They are relics of a bygone age - not just the 1960s, when they were constructed, but an age in which California believed that cheap oil would always be plentiful and available. We built an entire infrastructure around that and neglected trains, walkable neighborhoods, and lagged behind the rest of the world in developing solar and wind power.

Now the consequences of that misguided belief in the permanence of cheap oil have become clear. Gas prices are nearing $5, causing economic distress and sending Californians flocking to mass transit. For his part Barack Obama is proposing massive new investments in sustainable energy and rail infrastructure.   Read More »