Sanctuary Expansion on Hold?

Sonoma coast. Photo: MojosCoast

By Allan Schreiber, President, Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association

For the past year, friends and supporters of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary happily awaited the news that the size of the Sanctuary had been doubled and prepared to celebrate.

In the fall of 2007, Northern California Representative Lynn Woolsey introduced a bill which called for both GFNMS and the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary boundaries to be expanded. The Farallones Marine Sanctuary, now 1,255 square miles, was to be enlarged by over 1,500 square miles, moving its northern boundary well into Mendocino County.

But something happened on the way to the celebration.

In an article in Upwelling last March, Richard Charter of Defenders of Wildlife presented a history of drilling from the Santa Barbara oil rig blow-out of 1969 to the Woolsey Sanctuary expansion bill. Richard concluded on the optimistic note that the expected passage of the bill would put more off-shore territory out of bounds for oil exploration. And he was right to be optimistic—then. Last April, the US House of Representatives passed HR 1187, Woolsey’s Sanctuary expansion bill, by voice vote. No dissenting votes recorded! The bill had sailed through the house. But then it ran aground in the Senate. What happened?

Memories of last summer’s gasoline prices are the first clue.  When gas prices climbed well above the $4 mark, they met the heated presidential election campaign, and the politics became volatile. In mid-June, Republican candidate Senator John McCain called for renewed drilling for oil off US shores. It became a key issue for his campaign, and “drill, baby, drill” became a familiar chant at his rallies. McCain spoke out against drilling in wildlife refuges but not off-shore, although national marine sanctuaries are also refuges.

The Democrats resisted the lure of the drill chant for some time. Later in June, Senator Barack Obama belittled drilling as a solution for high gasoline prices and instead urged oil producers to utilize the dormant oil leases they already possessed. In July, he was still opposed to off-shore exploration, although the “drill, baby, drill” chant continued. Then, later in the summer, he told reporters in Florida that although he was still skeptical about the value of drilling in coastal waters, he could see room for compromise on the issue.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, Richard Charter, who follows these things as closely as anyone, provides a chronology. HR 1187 has become a Senate bill, S 2635. It goes through committee, and gets marked up; that is, cleared to be sent to the floor of the Senate for a vote. Supporters of Sanctuary expansion happily await the outcome.

Then Senator Tom Coburn (R, Oklahoma) steps in. He is well-known in the Senate for offering numerous amendments to other Senators’ bills, frequently to reduce spending amounts, and for placing “Holds” on submitted bills. In the US Senate, any member can notify the Majority Leader of the Senate of his objection to it; this is a Hold. The bill is then grounded, out of commission until the Hold is released. The Hold on S 2635 caused it to be returned to the Senate Commerce Committee, where it will sit for the short remainder of this session of Congress.

To deepen that blow, on October 1, the ban on drilling off the coast of Northern California was allowed to lapse. A bill labeled the Drill Now Act of 2008 passed Congress.  It called for speeding the lease process and limited legal challenges to sales of leases even when based upon existing environmental legislation such as the Endangered Species Act.

But wait, again. Perhaps next year the celebratory champagne can be returned to the ice bucket.  The day after the election, the Marin Independent Journal covered Representative Lynn Woolsey, celebrating her re-election. She mentioned one piece of legislation she planned to introduce in the next session of Congress: the Sanctuary expansion bill is coming back! 

The lease process takes a long time, even with the Drill Now Act. There are more Democrats who may favor the Sanctuary in both houses. It is possible, just possible, that oil drilling will be held off. We may be celebrating a new boundary for the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary after all.