MSN031518

6 | March 15, 2018 | Malibu surfside news News
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Offshore drilling prevention
focus of upcoming conference
Panelists include
various elected
officials, coastal
advocates
Submitted by the Malibu
Township Council
Malibu Township Council
is to conduct a free
community-wide conference
aimed at preventing
the opening of new federal
offshore oil drilling leases
that experts say are likely
to harm Malibu’s open and
safe coastal environment,
healthy surfing and swimming,
and even the City’s
tourist-based economy.
The conference, at 1:30
p.m. Saturday, March 24,
at the Malibu City Hall
Theater, located art 23825
Stuart Ranch Road, will
feature an introductory
message prepared by Leon
Panetta, who was largely
responsible for keep oil
drilling away from the
Monterey Bay. The conference
will include six
coastal expert panelists,
including representatives
from nonprofit groups
whose mission is to keep
the ocean environmentally
safe.
Panelists include U.S.
Rep. Ted Lieu, who represents
Malibu and 13
other coastal cities within
the 33rd District; Jeremy
Wolf, environmental representative
for State Sen.
Henry Stern; Attorney Damon
Nagami, Natural Resources
Defense Council;
Sarah Friedman, Sierra
Club advocate; Chad Nelson,
CEO of Surfrider; and
Attorney Dayna Bochco, a
member of the California
Coastal Commission.
MTC President Richard
Lawrence announced the
event last week, saying,
“Since at least the 1970s,
Malibu Township Council
has worked to keep our
beaches free of chemical
and physical contaminants,
as well as an open
and clean horizons. Oil
platforms offshore would
damage our waters, our
beaches, our waves, and
will harm our tourist economy.
This is not a future
that is acceptable for Malibu
residents.”
Experts agree that the
possibility of drilling rigs
off Malibu looks more and
more real every day.
“More than 35 years
ago, I worked with both
houses of Congress to impose
a moratorium on offshore
oil drilling in federal
waters along the California
coast,” Panetta said.
“We understood the grave
threat to one of the nation’s
greatest natural and commercial
assets. Now that
moratorium is at risk.”
Los Angeles Times staffers
Keith Schneider and
Tony Barboza wrote that
President Trump’s proposal
to open the coastline
for drilling represents
“the largest expanse of the
nation’s offshore oil and
natural gas reserves ever
offered to global energy
companies.”
Interior Secretary Ryan
Zinke said the draft fiveyear
leasing plan would
commit 90 percent of the
nation’s offshore reserves
to leasing, including areas
off all three regions of the
California coast that have
been off-limits to oil and
gas exploration since the
Reagan administration.
Lieu, who represents
14 L.A. County cities and
about 75 miles of coastline,
authored a letter signed by
36 California Congress
members opposing new
Pacific Ocean lease sales
in the Trump administration’s
offshore drilling
plans. Under Trump’s executive
order, the Department
of the Interior will
consider all areas of the
Outer Continental Shelf
for oil and gas leases.
“Offshore drilling creates
extraordinary safety
concerns for coastal communities
and ecosystems,”
Lieu said. “Instead of
fighting climate change
and looking at wind, tidal
and wave energy development,
this drilling proposal
will turn our coasts into a
game of risk. We should
be making every effort to
reduce the risk of disaster,
not increase them.”
Lawrence noted that
the meeting will provide
information on proposed
changes that will affect the
economy of Malibu, property
values and effects of
the oil industry.
“Residents love and
want to protect our city,”
Lawrence said.
The City Hall Theater
holds 250 people. Students,
teachers, interested
residents are welcome to
attend and to bring their
friends.
A cookie reception will
precede the event to allow
the audience to mingle
with panelists.
RSVPs to loislane@
headlines.org are appreciated.