Date: 1981-07-22
Speaker: PHILLIP BURTON (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. I wish to call my colleagues attention to the important contribution to the Interior appropriations bill made by Representative LEs AuCoIN*s provision barring use of 1982 money to lease oil and gas tracts in four cont.roversial basins off the California coast. His leadership on this issue as well as all other environmental issues. is especially appreciated because protection of these coastal areas is of such critical significance to the environment and the economy in our region that the leasing has met with bipartisan opposition. I believe the following editorial from the June 28. 1981. Los Angeles Times will be of particular interest to my colleagues because it demonstrates the importance of working together on such issues of mutual concern. (From the Los Angeles Times. June 28. 1981] AMBUSHING THE RouoH RIDERS The White House refused to get involvcd last week when a bipartisan group of congressmen ambushed the new rough riders of thle Interior Department. It was a wise move on thle part of the White House. and a welcome development. The Incident will be even more welcome If It turns out to be a signal to Interior Secretary James 0. Watt to show a litt]. restraint and discretion In what he calls his "crusade" to throw open the natural resources of the West. The ambush was set because Watt had made it clear that he Intended to lease four geologic basins for oil explorationbasins that lie seaward from some of the most elegant coastline in the world. The basinp stretch north for about 600 miles from Santa Barbara. past Big Sur. past Point Reyes and the Golden Gate. past the fogshrouded trees that crowd against the sea In Mendocino County. Nobody knows how much wealth lies under the ocean floor In that area. Geologists generally think there Is very little oil there. and geologists more often err on the high side than on the low side these days. But there is no question about the wealth of marine life In the areas that would be put at risk by blowouts or other accidental spills of oilsea otters. seals. whales and fishing grounds. For that reason. virtually every community and community leader along the coast objected to Watts plan to offer the offshore tracts for lease. The protest was not. as Watt insisted on characterizing It. a protest by environmental extremists. Nor was the opposition to the leases a partisan effort. Republicans complained as loudly as Democrats. But Watt persisted. arguing with some who complained and at one point taunting California congressmen when they tried to get him to explain why it was so important to lease those particular offshore tracts. The White House did not Intervene publicly. and there is no sign that it enjoyed sitting back while its interior secretary walked Into the ambush last week. But it did not move to help him. either. The ambush occurred In the House Appropriations Committee. where Rep. Les AuCoin CDOre.) offered an amendment to the Interior Departments budget bill that would exp!icitly forbid leasing the disputed tracts. The White House did not object to the amendment. and it was approved after Rep. Clair W. Burgener CRLa Jolla) told the committee that all Republicans in the California delegation opposed the leases. The amendment still must be approvet. by the full House and Senate. Even If that happens. it will not mean a permanent end to the threat of offshore oil exploration off the northern coast. But it will at least provide some time to take another look at the wisdom of risking damage to marine life and coastal grandeur when the risk would be taken with so little hope of gain. As Burgener said in committee last week. at best there might be a twoweek supply of oil in the four basins. There Is another hopeful sign in the Incident. Watt has often told the story of a meeting with President Reagan In which he described the aggressive way in which he planned to apprc ich the development of natural resources. The Pre~.ldents response. he said. was "Sic em." It Is just possIble that the behavior of the White House in the appropriations vote contains a new order for Watt: "Down. boy."