Letter to the Editor
Federal lands in Santa Barbara County are soon up for lease to oil companies for dangerous drilling and extraction processes. As our county strives to reduce the water, land, and air impacts of extreme oil drilling in county controlled areas, the Feds rush to push drilling on our federal lands.
Federal agencies are greasing the regulatory skids to cram big new oil development down our throats. Soon the Federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will approve hastily prepared EIS (Environmental Impact Statements), allowing oil drilling and fracking above Nojoqui Falls, Drum Canyon, Los Padres National Forest, and the Lake Cachuma headwaters leading to our drinking water aquifers!
A U.S. Geological Survey report, published in September’s “Environmental Geosciences,” confirms the polluting impacts on Central Coast groundwater aquifers from cyclic steam injection, waste water injection, and other high intensity oil extraction processes.
Elections are coming. Ask your local and federal elected leaders how they’ll stop this impending rape of our water, land, air, and climate.
Our kids strive to protect our climate by urging us to slash fossil fuel use. What do we tell them in 20 years as they struggle to cope with a burning planet?
Larry Bishop
Buellton
