Trump Administration again approves new oil drilling in Carrizo Plain National Monument
The Bakersfield office of the Bureau of Land Management has once again approved new oil drilling at an old well pad at the base of Caliente Mountain in San Luis Obispo County — it would be the only new drilling within the Carrizo Plain National Monument since it was established in 2001.
Approval of new drilling in a protected area is indicative of the vastly different approaches to oil development between the federal and state governments. While California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation prohibiting new oil and gas development on state lands, the BLM under President Donald Trump has approved reopening wells that haven’t been used since the 1950s.
Central Coast Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham, a Republican, issued a statement saying he is “disappointed in the federal government’s decision,” and urged them to reconsider.
“Last year, I supported a bill in the State Assembly to protect our national monuments and parks from oil drilling,” Cunningham said in a news release. “San Luis Obispo County and California does not want or need to open up our most precious pieces of open space for additional oil drilling.”
The well pad in question sat unused for decades and had been slated for conservation until 2018, when the BLM under the Trump administration approved a 2012 application by E&B Natural Resources Management Corp.
That plan was halted in July 2019 after Los Padres ForestWatch and the Center for Biological Diversity filed objections. Under review, the state BLM yanked the approval, saying the local field office hadn’t properly considered greenhouse gas emissions and other potential climate impacts. As a result, the Bakersfield office withdrew its approval and consulted with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
On May 21, the BLM again approved the project to drill the well and build a new oil flow pipeline if the old one needs replacement.
The pad is within the Russel Ranch Oil Field on the western edge of the national monument. That oil field produces around 128 barrels a day, and according to the Center for Biological Diversity, is nearing the end of its useful life.
Conservation groups say the plan would disrupt wildlife, including endangered species, and mar views, though the site is on the other side of the mountain from more popular areas within the monument.
“The Trump administration’s irrational decision to approve oil drilling in this spectacular place ignores climate change, imperils rare wildlife, and contradicts the monument’s conservation purpose,” said Lisa Belenky, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Instead of expanding oil and gas drilling, we need to keep dirty fossil fuels in the ground and turn to renewable energy sources.”
This story was originally published May 27, 2020 at 3:06 PM.
