SACRAMENTO, Calif. — An ambitious legislative effort to shut down three offshore oil rigs along the Orange County coast, where beaches and fragile wetlands were soiled after a major spill in October, could be hobbled by concerns over the eventual cost to California taxpayers.
The complexities of removing even a handful of oil platforms off California shores were the focus of a hearing Tuesday in Sacramento, a reminder of why the state's billion-dollar oil industry has remained resilient for generations — even in an era when prominent California Democrats are aggressively pushing for a transition to a renewable-energy-based economy that reduces oil and gas consumption and production.
Senate Bill 953, a proposal that cleared its first hurdle Tuesday, would allow the State Lands Commission to terminate offshore oil leases by the end of 2024 if purchase agreements with oil companies cannot be negotiated beforehand. The bill would affect only three operating offshore oil platforms in state waters along the Orange County coast. The 23 oil platforms in federal waters, which are farther off the coast, would not be affected.
