2019 will determine the future of oil production in Santa Barbara County. Several large onshore oil projects proposed near Santa Maria would triple onshore oil production. All would drill through the Santa Maria groundwater basin, the only local source of drinking water for much of north Santa Barbara County, and lock in production for up to fifty years using carbon and pollution-intensive cyclic steam and flooding. 

AERA, which is owned by Shell and ExxonMobil, was met with protesters, signs and chants on January 17 in Santa Maria before a hearing on their draft environmental impact report. Protesters started showing up at 5:00 PM and are shown here before going in to the 6:00 PM hearing.

The AERA hearing went on for an unheard of three and half hours. Around eighty people weighed in until 9:30 pm, with the majority opposed. The big concerns with this large 296 well project were the significant and widespread risks to water quality, significant degradation and loss of oak trees and habitat, and off-the-chart greenhouse gas emissions out of line with the county’s climate goals.

People kept coming. A contingent of UCSB students showed up during the hearing and made well-researched, thoughtful comments on tremendous climate impacts, water risks and other issues. Another rally broke out after the hearing ended at 9:30 PM with chants and photos.

Send comments on the draft environmental impact report  before January 28 to Kathryn Lehr. The project will likely to come to the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission for a decision in late spring.