Representatives of Audubon California and the Santa Barbara Audubon Society today expressed disappointment at the failure in the current California legislative session of an important bill that would have closed the last remaining loophole that could allow new offshore oil drilling. Both organizations vowed to continue their fight on this issue, contending that birds and the environment will remain at risk as long as new drilling is possible.

The bill, Senate Bill 788, authored by Sen. Mike McGuire, failed to come to a vote in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Its next stop would have been the Assembly floor.

“Audubon California is greatly disappointed that Senate Bill 788 didn’t get to the governor’s desk,” said Policy Director Mike Lynes today. “As the people of Santa Barbara have learned all too well, oil drilling and transportation in the ocean poses a real danger to birds and the environment. We thank Sen. McGuire for his leadership on this important issue for birds.”

Senate Bill 788 got greater attention in May after a pipeline ruptured on Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara, spilling more than 100,000 gallons of crude into the nearby ocean.

“We are very disappointed to learn that SB788 did not pass,” said Santa Barbara Audubon Society President Cherie Topper. “Our chapter will continue to work in coalition with other environmental nonprofits to support legislation that protects our sensitive, precious, and unique coastal habitats.”

The California Coastal Sanctuary Act of 1994 prohibits the state from entering into new oil and gas extraction leases in specified state waters where it would damage to the marine environment.  Despite this language, the Act does, however, allow for wells in adjacent federal lands to extract oil deposits contained in state tidelands if the State Lands Commission determines that the lease for these wells is “in the best interest of the state.”

The 1994 Act also enables new oil drilling leases in Marine Protected Areas (MPA). MPAs have stringent criteria to protect and sustain marine ecosystems and marine life populations. Bird species that live in or near MPAs depend on the protection this designation provides. Audubon California’s position is that allowing oil and gas extraction to occur in these areas goes against the very nature of the MPA designation and does irreparable harm to the marine life in these protected areas.

“Californians have said many times that they don’t want any new offshore oil drilling, and Audubon California will continue to work until the last of these loopholes are closed,” said Lynes.