To many Californians, the proposal makes no sense. If the world is awash in oil and petroleum prices are plunging, then why do energy companies want or need to drill for additional supplies of crude off the U.S. coasts? Nonetheless, despite the crash in the oil market, the Federal Government intends to go full speed ahead with its controversial plan to sell a new set of offshore leases. Along the California coastline, where many of the oil tracts are located, environmentalists, fishermen and many politicians are alarmed and angry.
At a public hearing held two weeks ago on the San Francisco...