By Jonathan Smith
The Culver City Council recently approved a resolution on Monday that supports a ban on new offshore oil and gas drilling in federal and state waters. The city does not have the authority to regulate drilling in the Pacific Ocean, but the resolution aligns the city with most of the state’s legislators position on offshore drilling, including Gov. Jerry Brown. The resolution speaks on new drilling permits only.
The resolution will be sent to several state and federal agencies who govern and regulate drilling. Several members of the council said it was time to invest in more clean energy jobs because of the nature of the current environment.
“It takes decades to get rid of a new lease. We don’t have decades on climate change,” Councilman Alex Fisch said about approving the resolution. “We need to start now.”
Councilman Goran Eriksson, who abstained from voting, said he had reservations on approving a resolution because the city shouldn’t get involved in non-local issues. He said it was inappropriate to spend staff time items that don’t directly impact Culver City residents.
“This issue is, in my mind, not what I called a Culver City-specific or a Culver City-centric issue, which is our primary responsibility,” Eriksson said during a conference call at the council meeting. “…We have other things to spend time on.”