Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday told a key Republican congressman that he opposes any effort to weaken the 24-year-old federal moratorium on new oil drilling off California's coast.
The governor, who has been heavily lobbied on this issue, weighed in a week before the House of Representatives was poised to vote on legislation that could reopen coastal waters around the United States to oil and gas exploration
"California reaps tremendous benefits from our ocean and coastal environments," Schwarzenegger wrote Thursday to Richard W. Pombo (R-Tracy), chairman of the House Committee on Resources. "I am unwilling to put this environment at risk for the sake of new energy exploration ... and continue to support the permanent protection of these waters."
Schwarzenegger delivered his letter to Pombo because he is the architect of complicated federal legislation that could give states more control over drilling off their coasts, but only after repealing the congressional ban that has protected the California coast since 1981.
Pombo, as chairman of the Resources Committee, last week inserted the offshore-drilling legislation into a massive budget bill that is scheduled for a vote by the House next week.
Now another California congressman, House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier (R-San Dimas), is considering whether to strip the drilling component from the budget bill to make sure it doesn't peel off moderate Republicans needed for the bill's passage.
The offshore-drilling provisions, and other controversial items such as opening Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, will be considered by House Republican leaders in a strategy session today, a Dreier spokesman said.
Pombo spokesman Brian Kennedy said he doubted that Schwarzenegger's letter threatens the chances for speedy approval through the budget process.
"The [offshore oil] legislation moving through the Congress satisfies the governor's concerns completely," Kennedy said. "Nowhere in his letter does he say, 'I oppose what you are doing.' It appears that Gov. Schwarzenegger and Chairman Pombo are in lock-step when it comes to protecting the California coast."
Others said Schwarzenegger's letter did not go far enough in opposing loosening of the moratorium. The issue has generated wide and passionate political opposition since a 1969 Santa Barbara oil platform blowout blackened Southern California beaches.
