The Laguna Beach City Council will consider a resolution Tuesday calling for an end to all oil operations off the California coastline.
Mayor Bob Whalen and Mayor Pro Tem Sue Kempf proposed the resolution, which is expected to be approved by a panel voted in with a mandate for environmental protection and conservation.
“The City supports ending all current and future offshore drilling and production operations in State and Federal waters off the coast of California, and urges our state and federal representatives to pursue legislation to achieve this outcome,” the resolution states.
In a time where the council has often split on policy and personality, advocating for a ban on offshore oil production offers an opportunity for unity.
“Laguna Beach Coastline is part of the Nation’s first scientifically-based network of marine protected areas along the California coastline, which was created to help ensure that the natural resources, marine ecosystem functions, and marine natural heritage,” the resolution states.
The U.S. Coast Guard captain overseeing the spill response said the latest estimate is closer to 25,000 gallons spilled from the pipeline operated by an arm of Amplify Energy, the Associated Press reported Thursday.
Besides concerns about marine wildlife and ecological health, the resolution also hammers oil operators for threatening the state’s tourism-dependent economy, military assets, and the public’s ability to explore and relax on the coast.
The City Council is scheduled to meet at 5 p.m. on Tuesday in the Council Chambers.
The “CITY” does not support banning oil production in the ocean. The majority of residents here need gas and oil energy to live. City Council’s do gooders are only fooling the small majority of people the focus on for P.R. who use activism to fill the tanks of their senseless empty lives. Oil is good.
I guess the less we drill our own oil, the more we have to depend on the Middle East and let them dictate how much gas costs us here. That is pretty dumb