There is no offshore oil drilling taking place now off the Northern California coast — and the Yurok Tribe, other Tribes, fishermen and environmentalists want to keep it that way by stopping the Trump administration plan to open federal waters off the California, Oregon and Washington coasts to new oil extraction leases.
On February 8, 2018, representatives from the Yurok Tribe attended two events in Sacramento to speak out against the Trump Administration’s dangerous oil drilling plan, a proposal that has the potential to permanently damage California’s coast and exacerbate global climate change, according to a news release from the Tribe.
Yurok Representatives attended the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s single public meeting in California on the controversial Draft Proposed National Oil and Gas Program that includes the creation of 7 new offshore oil leases along the Pacific coast, including two off the coast of Northern California.
Earlier on February 8 at 1:30 pm, Yurok Tribal Council Representative Larry Hendrix spoke at a “Save the Coast” rally at the State Capitol in Sacramento, organized by Ocean Protectors, an advocacy organization comprised of native nations and indigenous peoples. The event was attended by over 1000 people from throughout the state.
Tribal representatives at both events expressed their very serious concerns about the plan’s potential to harm sacred sites, cultural resources and the Tribe’s traditional food supply, along with how it will accelerate climate change. Leaders from the Miwok, Pit River, Hoopa Valley, Chumash and Pomo Tribes, as well as members of Idle No More SF Bay, also participated in the event.
“One need not look any further than the sharp declines in salmon, abalone and many other marinepopulations to see that the ocean ecosystem is out of balance and this plan will only advance this terrible trend,” said Thomas P. O’Rourke Sr, the Chairman of the Yurok Tribe in the news release. “This proposal represents a giant leap in the wrong direction.”
He said the Yurok Tribe knows all too well the energy needs of California, as half of the Tribe’s Reservation does not have access to electricity, phones and broadband. However, the risk that offshore drilling presents to the Yurok way of life is not a risk the Tribe is willing to take to meet those energy demands,” according to the release.
“We should be investing in energy projects that will leave this planet in a better place for all future generations of people, not making itexponentially worse,”said Chairman O’Rourke.
O’Rourke said the installation of oil platforms and land-based, ancillary facilities in Yurok ancestral territory will directly affect the Yurok people in a number of ways. For example, the Tribe maintains multiple ceremonial sites on and adjacent to the Far North Coast, where Yuroks have practiced a place-based religion since time immemorial. If an oil spill were to occur, it would do irreparable harm to these sacred locations.
“We would not wish it upon anyone to have to look at an offshore oil platform while listening to their pastor, rabbi or imam give a service, or worse yet have waves of oil wash over their place of worship,”said Frankie Myers, the Yurok Tribe’s Heritage Preservation Officer. “We ask that all indigenous nations and the people of California stand with us in this effort to protect our sacred sites and cultural religious practices.”
Yurok Tribe leaders said they are also gravely alarmed about the real prospects of a repeat of the BP oil spill, an avoidable disaster that deposited millions of gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico and onto the nearby coastline,
“If an event similar to the failure of Deep Water Horizon happened here, it would forever destroy the salmon nursery surrounding the mouth of the Klamath River, as well as many other important intertidal species , including the mussels, clams and other shellfish that Yurok people harvest for food,” according to the release.
“The inevitable influence that these plans, if completed, will have on climate change is another disturbing outcome,” the Tribe stated. “Locally, the historic drought, which took place from 2011-2017, was one of only a handful of factors responsible for the recent collapse of the Klamath River salmon, a vital source of sustenance for Yurok people.In 2016 and 2017, the Klamath River fish returns were amongst the smallest in history. The warming ocean, also a product of climate change, was another driving force in the salmon fisheries’ failure. Extreme droughts and the drastically reduced mountain snowpack, akin to what the region is experiencing this year, are expectedto become the norm if nothing is done to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
“Installing oil rigs in close proximity to the Cascadia Subduction Zone, a fault line that is the source of some ofthe world’s most powerful, recurring earthquakes and tsunamis, is another ill-advised aspect of this project. While its last major tremor, measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale, was on January 26, 1700, the Yurok people haveseveral traditional stories about the devastating quakes generated by the subduction zone. The US GeologicalService defines the area from Northern California to North Vancouver Island as having the “highest hazard”for a strong seismic event,” according to the Tribe.
The Yurok Tribe has laws protecting the natural environment, including the ocean, where it traditionally harvests its fishery resource. The oil developments proposed in the project are inconsistent with tribal legislation, including the Yurok Tribe constitution, which mandates that the Tribe shall "restore, enhance, and manage the tribal fishery, tribal water rights, tribal forests and all other natural resources."
“Our people and our culture are our two most valuable resources and we cannot support anything that puts either of them in danger. This juice is not worth the squeeze,” concluded Chairman O’Rourke.
Background: The Yurok Tribe is the largest Tribe in California with more than 6,200 members. The Tribe’s ancestral territory comprises 7.5 percent of the California coastline, spanning from the Little River to the south and Damnation Creek to the north. The eastern boundary is the Klamath River’s confluence with theTrinity River. The Tribe is a leader in natural resource management, fisheries restoration and cultural protection.
Governor Jerry Brown has expanded offshore drilling in Southern California by 17%
While there is no offshore drilling taking place now off the Northern California coast, that is not the case in Southern California waters, where the Jerry Brown administration has promoted the expansion of offshore drilling.
Here are the facts: Jerry Brown’s regulators have approved 238 new offshore oil wells in state waters under existing leases, an increase of 17 percent since 2012, an analysis from the nonprofit FracTracker Alliance revealed.
According to the Fracktracker Alliance:
"FracTracker Alliance reviewed the data published by DOGGR on permitted offshore wells. (DOGGR refers to the Division of Oil, Gas, & Geothermal Resources, which regulates drilling in CA). Using API identification numbers as a timeline, we actually find that it is likely that 238 wells have been drilled offshore since the start of 2012. The DOGGR database only lists “spud” (drilling) and completion dates for 71 – a mere 1.3% of the 5,435 total offshore wells. DOGGR reports that 1,366 offshore wells are currently active production wells. It must be noted that these numbers are only estimations, since operators have a 2-year window to drill wells after receiving a permit and API number.
Using these methods of deduction, we find that since the beginning of 2012 the majority of offshore wells have been drilled offshore of Los Angeles County in the Wilmington Oil Field (204 in total); followed by 25 offshore in the Huntington Beach field; 7 in the West Montalvo field offshore of Ventura County, and 1 in the Belmont field, also offshore of Ventura County. Additionally, the Center for Biological Diversity reports that at least 200 of the wells off California’s coast have been hydraulically fractured."
The FracTacker Alliance report is available here: https://www.fractracker.org/2017/02/more-offshore-drilling-ca/
Why is Jerry Brown such a loyal servant of the oil industry? It might have something to do with the fact that Brown has received over $9.8 million from oil companies, gas companies and utilities since he ran for his third term as governor, according to Consumer Watchdog. For more information on Governor Brown and his so-called "green" policies, see: http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/sites/default/files/2017-09/how_green_is_brown.pdf
Big Oil also wields enormous influence over the California Legislature, such huge influence that every bill except one opposed by the oil industry has failed to make it out of the Legislature over the past three years. Big Oil dominated three out of the four top spots of expenditures by all lobbying organizations in 2017, according to documents from the California Secretary of State’s Office.
Outspending all of their competition, Chevron placed first with $8.2 million and the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), the trade association for the oil industry in the states of California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Arizona, spent $6.2 million. Tesoro Refining and Marketing Company finished fourth with $3.2 million. You can find the information on spending by employers of lobbyists here: cal-access.sos.ca.gov/…
That’s a total of $17.6 million dumped into lobbying by the three top oil industry lobbying organizations alone. That figure exceeds the $14,577,314 expended by all 16 oil lobby organizations in 2016.
The California Oil Lobby was the biggest spender in the 2015-16 legislative session, spending an amazing $36.1 million on lobbying over the two-year period. Big Oil spending last session amounted to $1.5 million per month — nearly $50,000 per day.
WSPA and Big Oil use their money and power in 5 ways: through (1) lobbying; (2) campaign spending; (3) creating Astroturf groups: 4) working in collaboration with media; and (5) getting appointed to positions on and influencing regulatory panels, as in the case of the privately Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative to create faux “marine protected areas” in Southern California.
That’s right — Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the President of the Western States Petroleum Association, chaired the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create so-called “marine protected areas” in Southern California from 2009 to 2012. She also served on the task forces to create “marine protected areas” on the Central Coast, North Central Coast and North Coast from 2004 to 2012.