» John

In this clip (in order of appearance):
Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi, Chair, California State Lands Commission
Scott Thomas, Conservation Director, Sea and Sage Audubon Society of Orange County
Amber Jackson
Amy Jackson
Controller John Chiang

Video by AGP Video.

SANTA MONICA The California State Lands Commission (SLC), the state agency responsible for approving new oil leases in California, today voted for a resolution to reject a Department of Finance proposal to bypass the SLC to permit oil drilling off the coast of California. Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi, chair of the SLC, joined State Controller John Chiang in favor of the resolution, while commission member Tom Sheehy, Chief Deputy Director for the Department of Finance, did not cast a vote as he had to leave the hearing early due to a family emergency.

The State Lands Commission has had the authority to approve oil leases in California since 1937. A copy of the resolution is below.

This is a deliberate attempt to overturn the decision of this body, the State Lands Commission, a decision that was based on the finding that this proposal was not in the interests of the state, Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi said. The proposed legislation gives the power to move forward the lease to the Department of Finance, not the legislature.

This is a blatant power grab; the Department of Finance deliberately misrepresented the level of political support behind this, said Susan Jordan, director of the California Coastal Protection Network. It was appalling to watch. They dont like the decision made by the State Lands Commission, but that is precisely why we have an independent commission.

The three-member State Lands Commission originally considered the request to lease land to the Plains Exploration & Production Company to expand drilling off the coast of California in late January, but Garamendi joined State Controller John Chiang in a two-to-one vote to defeat the proposal.

The new drilling proposal offers California a $100 million loan that must be repaid by forgiving future royalty payments to California. This is an incredibly reckless fiscal policy, added Garamendi, chair of- the California Commission for Economic Development. The cleanup costs for 2007s Cosco Busan oil spill in San Francisco exceeded $70 million, and that was a comparatively minor spill compared to whats possible. California should leave new oil production in the 20th century and reassert its leadership in renewable energy production.

Duration : 0:6:39

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In this clip (in order of appearance):
Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi, Chair, California State Lands Commission
Jack Eidt, Founder, Wild Heritage Planners
Penny Elia, Sierra Club
Brandy Langdon

Video by AGP Video.

SANTA MONICA The California State Lands Commission (SLC), the state agency responsible for approving new oil leases in California, today voted for a resolution to reject a Department of Finance proposal to bypass the SLC to permit oil drilling off the coast of California. Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi, chair of the SLC, joined State Controller John Chiang in favor of the resolution, while commission member Tom Sheehy, Chief Deputy Director for the Department of Finance, did not cast a vote as he had to leave the hearing early due to a family emergency.

The State Lands Commission has had the authority to approve oil leases in California since 1937. A copy of the resolution is below.

This is a deliberate attempt to overturn the decision of this body, the State Lands Commission, a decision that was based on the finding that this proposal was not in the interests of the state, Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi said. The proposed legislation gives the power to move forward the lease to the Department of Finance, not the legislature.

This is a blatant power grab; the Department of Finance deliberately misrepresented the level of political support behind this, said Susan Jordan, director of the California Coastal Protection Network. It was appalling to watch. They dont like the decision made by the State Lands Commission, but that is precisely why we have an independent commission.

The three-member State Lands Commission originally considered the request to lease land to the Plains Exploration & Production Company to expand drilling off the coast of California in late January, but Garamendi joined State Controller John Chiang in a two-to-one vote to defeat the proposal.

The new drilling proposal offers California a $100 million loan that must be repaid by forgiving future royalty payments to California. This is an incredibly reckless fiscal policy, added Garamendi, chair of- the California Commission for Economic Development. The cleanup costs for 2007s Cosco Busan oil spill in San Francisco exceeded $70 million, and that was a comparatively minor spill compared to whats possible. California should leave new oil production in the 20th century and reassert its leadership in renewable energy production.

Duration : 0:9:27

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There have been a lot of discussions about the high gas prices in USA the past months and what exactly should be done to curb this trend. Some politicians, like McCain, Bush, and Gingrich, are taking advantage of the situation and tries to push for the ending of a 27-year moratorium on offshore drilling along the coastlines of USA.

But offshore drilling is not a “quick fix” and it won’t help to lower the gas prices. The only ones that will profit from this are Bush and McCain’s friends in the oil industry. While people are suffering from the high gas prices the oil companies are reporting record profits after record profits.

“The United States burns 24 percent of the world’s oil, yet we only have 3 percent of the world’s oil reserves. Even if we drilled every drop of oil the U.S. has on shore or off its coasts, we will never be able to drill our way to lower oil prices or energy security. We simply burn more than we could ever drill.”

“Offshore oil drilling is not a short-term fix. It would take at least a decade to bring new leases into production. And, it will be years before exploration could begin and years after that before production would start. If any effect were to be felt on gas prices (most likely only a few pennies per gallon), that effect is decades away.”

“Offering up more of our coastline for drilling won’t lower gas prices. Since President Bush took office in 2000, the number of wells in federally leased areas has increased exponentially, yet gas prices have doubled during that same time. Yet, this type of evidence is never mentioned in the media or by proponents for offshore drilling.”

“Another reason that drilling for more oil in the U.S. won’t result in lower gas prices is because oil prices are set on the global oil market. What this means is that all oil produced around the world is sold all at the same price. There is no guarantee that we would even be using the oil that was drilled here in the U.S. And, we certainly wouldn’t get a discount just because we drilled for it on U.S. soil. We would pay the same rate as the rest of the world.”

[Source: http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/offshore-drilling-it-s-not-t ]

The only things that will lower the fuel prices, create more jobs, solve the climate crisis and fix this fragile economy is to invest in clean renewable energy sources, setting strict mpg standards for all automobiles and transform our current society to a sustainable one.

Going green will fix many problems, one of them are high gas prices.

Duration : 0:2:24

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Jacksonville, FL
June 20, 2008

Duration : 0:4:50

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In this clip (in order of appearance):
Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi, Chair, California State Lands Commission
Susan Jordan, Director, California Coastal Protection Network
Kelly Brosman

Video by AGP Video.

Paul Thayer, Executive Officer, California State Lands Commission
Tom Sheehy, Chief Deputy Director of the Department of Finance

SANTA MONICA The California State Lands Commission (SLC), the state agency responsible for approving new oil leases in California, today voted for a resolution to reject a Department of Finance proposal to bypass the SLC to permit oil drilling off the coast of California. Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi, chair of the SLC, joined State Controller John Chiang in favor of the resolution, while commission member Tom Sheehy, Chief Deputy Director for the Department of Finance, did not cast a vote as he had to leave the hearing early due to a family emergency.

The State Lands Commission has had the authority to approve oil leases in California since 1937. A copy of the resolution is below.

This is a deliberate attempt to overturn the decision of this body, the State Lands Commission, a decision that was based on the finding that this proposal was not in the interests of the state, Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi said. The proposed legislation gives the power to move forward the lease to the Department of Finance, not the legislature.

This is a blatant power grab; the Department of Finance deliberately misrepresented the level of political support behind this, said Susan Jordan, director of the California Coastal Protection Network. It was appalling to watch. They dont like the decision made by the State Lands Commission, but that is precisely why we have an independent commission.

The three-member State Lands Commission originally considered the request to lease land to the Plains Exploration & Production Company to expand drilling off the coast of California in late January, but Garamendi joined State Controller John Chiang in a two-to-one vote to defeat the proposal.

The new drilling proposal offers California a $100 million loan that must be repaid by forgiving future royalty payments to California. This is an incredibly reckless fiscal policy, added Garamendi, chair of- the California Commission for Economic Development. The cleanup costs for 2007s Cosco Busan oil spill in San Francisco exceeded $70 million, and that was a comparatively minor spill compared to whats possible. California should leave new oil production in the 20th century and reassert its leadership in renewable energy production.

Duration : 0:8:39

Read the rest of this entry »

In this clip (in order of appearance):
Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi, Chair, California State Lands Commission
Tom Sheehy, Chief Deputy Director of the Department of Finance

Video by AGP Video.

SANTA MONICA The California State Lands Commission (SLC), the state agency responsible for approving new oil leases in California, today voted for a resolution to reject a Department of Finance proposal to bypass the SLC to permit oil drilling off the coast of California. Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi, chair of the SLC, joined State Controller John Chiang in favor of the resolution, while commission member Tom Sheehy, Chief Deputy Director for the Department of Finance, did not cast a vote as he had to leave the hearing early due to a family emergency.

The State Lands Commission has had the authority to approve oil leases in California since 1937. A copy of the resolution is below.

This is a deliberate attempt to overturn the decision of this body, the State Lands Commission, a decision that was based on the finding that this proposal was not in the interests of the state, Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi said. The proposed legislation gives the power to move forward the lease to the Department of Finance, not the legislature.

This is a blatant power grab; the Department of Finance deliberately misrepresented the level of political support behind this, said Susan Jordan, director of the California Coastal Protection Network. It was appalling to watch. They dont like the decision made by the State Lands Commission, but that is precisely why we have an independent commission.

The three-member State Lands Commission originally considered the request to lease land to the Plains Exploration & Production Company to expand drilling off the coast of California in late January, but Garamendi joined State Controller John Chiang in a two-to-one vote to defeat the proposal.

The new drilling proposal offers California a $100 million loan that must be repaid by forgiving future royalty payments to California. This is an incredibly reckless fiscal policy, added Garamendi, chair of- the California Commission for Economic Development. The cleanup costs for 2007s Cosco Busan oil spill in San Francisco exceeded $70 million, and that was a comparatively minor spill compared to whats possible. California should leave new oil production in the 20th century and reassert its leadership in renewable energy production.

Duration : 0:9:57

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175-315 Billion barrels of oil are recoverable at $15 a barrel in the Oil Sands of Alberta, Canada. With a remaining potential of 1.7-2.5 Trillion barrels using advanced recovery techniques. Who knows what they’ll discover tomorrow, but we know today, that in Canada’s oil sands alone, the supplies will last over 100 years.

MYTH: The World Is Running Out of Oil (ABC News)
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/story?id=1954572

Alberta’s Oil Sands: Facts and stats (Government of Alberta)
http://oilsands.alberta.ca/519.cfm

Analysis: Nuclear-powered oil sands (The Earth Times)
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/46143.html

Oil sands cleanup (Financial Post, Canada)
http://tinyurl.com/6z83dh

Despite Popular Belief, The World is Not Running Out of Oil, Scientist Says (University of Washington)
http://uwnews.org/article.asp?articleid=27554

Its a myth that the worlds oil is running out (The Times, UK)
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/columnists/article3823656.ece

Oil, Oil Everywhere… (The Wall Street Journal)
http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110006228

Oil Innovations Pump New Life Into Old Wells (The New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/05/business/05oil1.html

Oil: Never Cry Wolf—Why the Petroleum Age Is Far from over (Science)
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/sci;304/5674/1114

The World Has Plenty of Oil (The Wall Street Journal)
http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB120459389654809159.html

Thermodynamics and Money (Peter Huber, Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, MIT)
http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2005/1031/122.html

The economic value of energy just doesn’t depend very strongly on raw energy content as conventionally measured in British thermal units. Instead it’s determined mainly by the distance between the BTUs and where you need them, and how densely the BTUs are packed into pounds of stuff you’ve got to move, and by the quality of the technology at hand to move, concentrate, refine and burn those BTUs, and by how your neighbors feel about carbon, uranium and windmills. In this entropic universe we occupy, the production of one unit of high-grade energy always requires more than one unit of low-grade energy at the outset. There are no exceptions. Put another way, Eroei–a sophomoric form of thermodynamic accounting–is always negative and always irrelevant. “Matter-energy” constraints count for nothing. The “monetary culture” still rules.

Additional U.S. Oil Reserves:
- 1.8 to 6 Trillion barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Oil-Shale Reserves (DOE)
- 986 Billion barrels of oil are estimated using Coal-to-liquids (CTL) conversion of U.S. Coal Reserves (DOE)
- 100 Billion barrels of heavy oil are estimated in the U.S. (DOE)
- 90 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in the Arctic (USGS)
- 89 Billion barrels of immobile oil are estimated recoverable using CO2 injection in the U.S. (DOE)
- 86 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (MMS)
- 60 to 80 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in U.S. Tar Sands (DOE)
- 32 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in ANWR, NPRA and the Central North Slope in Alaska (USGS)
- 4.3 Billion (167 Billion potential) barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Bakken shale formation in North Dakota and Montana (USGS)
- 3.65 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Devonian-Mississippian Bakken Formation (USGS)
- 1.6 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Eastern Great Basin Province (USGS)
- 1.3 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Permian Basin Province (USGS)
- 1.1 Billion barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Powder River Basin Province (USGS)
- 990 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Portion of the Michigan Basin (USGS)
- 393 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. San Joaquin Basin Province of California (USGS)
- 214 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Illinois Basin (USGS)
- 172 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Yukon Flats of East-Central Alaska (USGS)
- 131 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Southwestern Wyoming Province (USGS)
- 109 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Montana Thrust Belt Province (USGS)
- 104 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Denver Basin Province (USGS)
- 98.5 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Bend Arch-Fort Worth Basin Province (USGS)
- 94 Million barrels of oil are estimated in the U.S. Hanna, Laramie, Shirley Basins Province (USGS)

Duration : 0:5:23