Linda Krop, chief counsel for the Environmental Defense Center, talks about Ventura County Supervisor Carmen Ramirez’s legacy, the ExxonMobil lawsuit against Santa Barbara County over trucking oil, and the potential for wind energy on the Central Coast, in this week’s episode of Santa Barbara Talks.
Ramirez died after she was struck by a pickup truck in Oxnard on Friday.
“She was a fierce champion for environmental issues, but really for any issue that affected her community,” Krop said.
Ramirez, a former Oxnard city councilwoman, was the first Latina to serve as chair of the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, and her death touched many activists and elected officials on the Central Coast.
“You never had to work hard to get her support,” Krop said. “You always knew she was there for you.”
Krop also talks about the controversy surrounding Exxon’s plan to truck oil in Santa Barbara County.
ExxonMobil filed a federal lawsuit in May challenging the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors’ decision to deny its oil trucking project.
ExxonMobil proposed a phased restart of its Santa Ynez Unit, including three offshore platforms and its Las Flores Canyon processing facility on the Gaviota Coast, which stopped operating in 2015, shortly after the Refugio oil spill.
The company proposed building truck loading racks at Las Flores Canyon, and transporting oil to the Santa Maria Pump Station for delivery to the Phillips 66 Santa Maria Refinery in southern San Luis Obispo County (until the refinery’s 2023 closure) and the Pentland Terminal in Kern County.
ExxonMobil wanted to restart production at 39% of its previous capacity, and transport oil to refineries by tanker truck for seven years, or whenever a pipeline becomes available.
“Exxon does not have a right to produce its oil,” Krop said. “That right was tied to pipeline transportation.”
The EDC plans to file a motion on behalf of the county in that lawsuit.
“It’s about restarting the platforms, but it’s also about public safety,” Krop said. “It’s such a dangerous road.”
She said there would be 140 roundtrip truck trips a day along Highway 101, then Highway 166 to Kern County.
Krop said three other companies plan to submit applications to truck oil in the county.
Krop also talks about a proposal to install flowing wind turbines in San Luis Obispo County to create new energy.
The California Coastal Commission recently voted to allows the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to move forward in its efforts to install wind turbines.
“We do think there’s potential, offshore Morro Bay,” Krop said. “In terms of reducing environmental impacts as much as possible, what we have learned is the further offshore the better.”
Santa Barbara Talks with Josh Molina is a podcast produced by journalist Josh Molina. Consider a financial contribution by visiting www.santabarbaratalks.com or subscribe to his YouTube channel. Molina has been a journalist in Santa Barbara for 20 years. He also covered City Hall for the San Jose Mercury News. In addition to working as a reporter at Noozhawk, he teaches journalism at Cal State University, Northridge and Santa Barbara City College. Please subscribe to his You Tube channel for more content.