For all his many faults, I want to say again that five years on, Arnold Schwarzenegger has turned out to be a much better governor than many of us feared. In some not intangible ways, the former movie star has helped move California farther to the left than would Gray Davis had the latter stayed in office rather than suffer the indignity of the October 2003 recall election. I certainly have a great deal of schadenfreude when I contemplate how frustrated many right-wingers in the state are with Schwarzenegger’s bi-partisanship!
The governor is on record as opposing the November initiative to overturn gay marriages, and he came out forcefully this week against any oil drilling off our coast.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday he opposes lifting a ban on new oil drilling in coastal waters, breaking with President Bush and Republican presidential candidate John McCain.
Schwarzenegger, who has endorsed McCain’s presidential bid, said the federal offshore drilling ban was not to blame for soaring gas prices. A federal moratorium has been in place for 27 years.
“We are in this situation because of our dependence on traditional petroleum-based oil,” Schwarzenegger said in a statement that referred only to Bush’s call for the ban and did not mention McCain. “The direction our nation needs to go in, and where California is already headed, is toward greater innovation in new technologies and new fuel choices for consumers.”
He said that is how fuel costs ultimately will be reduced.
I was born in Santa Barbara. When I was still a toddler in that town, a Unocal rig off the coast of my birthplace leaked 200,000 gallons of oil, wreaking environmental catastrophe. Every Santa Barbaran over 45 remembers that terrible winter, and the scenes of devastation. The oil companies claim that their drilling techniques have improved substantially since then, but spills still happen even in first world sites. The safety improvements seem over-sold, and our coastline is not worth the risk.
Fortunately, with the exception of Santa Barbara County there are few other areas of off-shore drilling in the Golden State these days. After we left Santa Barbara, I grew up in Carmel by-the-Sea, one of the most beautiful spots in the world. I’d rather pay $25 a gallon than see a rig in Monterey bay.
And whatever his myriad shortcomings, our good governor agrees with me.