I was very happy to be asked by the Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi’s staff to stand with my environmental brothers and sisters from Surfrider Foundation, Heal the Bay, Los Angeles Waterkeeper and Earthworks in support of Al’s new bill, AB2711 which would oh so cleverly and ironically allow the City of Hermosa Beach to Hermosa Beach to borrow money from the state tideland oil revenues fund to payoff E&B after the city votes to maintain their ban on oil drilling. (It’s a long story why they’d have to pay in order to maintain a current ban against drilling, but it involves less than mensa major level negotiators from the City Council – Bobko and DiVirgilio – being played like patsies at the poker table when they cut a panicky settlement deal over a law suit they thought they would lose.)
And what we especially dig about Al’s proposal is that the loan repayments Hermosa Beach would make would be deposited into the State Coastal Conservancy Trust Fund to be used for its Climate Ready Program. Payoff money to an oil company that actually pays for some of the damage the oil’s company’s products caused every time they are burned. You’ve got to love it.
And you’ve got to love Ted Lieu’s strong and no holds barred statements in support of Al’s bill and against oil drilling in Hermosa Beach and he made a point of saying,
“I can’t think of anything more stupid than to do oil drilling in Hermosa Beach.”
Ted said he has always opposed oil drilling anywhere on our coast and especially in Hermosa Beach. He spoke about legislation he previously had introduced to try to help Hermosa when McPherson Oil’s lawsuit was still threatening the city. I applauded him.
Creative Greenius 