American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2016 - 116

The Presidential Papers
exports. It is important to note, however,
that Congress originally passed the ban.
Arkansas' congressional delegation completely supported the legislation to repeal
it.
Modern society is only possible through

energy use. Welcome to our new reality
of domestic energy security and overabundance. It is certainly a much better problem
than scarcity, which has been our nation's
energy challenge since the 1970s.
Once again, American technology, in-

CALIFORNIA INDEPENDENT
PETROLEUM ASSOCIATION
STEVE LAYTON
PRESIDENT
E&B NATURAL RESOURCES
BAKERSFIELD, CA.

FROM THE ACTING CHAIRMAN
California already has the reputation
as something of a nation-state thanks to
its sheer size and productivity. The World
Bank ranks California's economy as the
world's eighth largest, only slightly smaller
than that of Brazil.
It is not widely known that the Golden
State produces a significant share of its
own oil and natural gas. California ranks
third in U.S. oil production. In fact, the
output from Kern County, Ca., alone is
sufficient to rank fifth behind Texas, Alaska, Louisiana and North Dakota.
Even with this impressive production,
California is able to only meet about a
third of its total oil demand. Sadly, in
their effort to stop California production,
anti-oil activists are launching a fullthrottle attack that would threaten the
state's energy security.
These attacks come from a wide array
of sources, including lawsuits, legislation,
local regulations and the ballot box. The
multifront fight may prove an increasingly
common way to threaten production in
other parts of the country.
Courthouse And Statehouse
Activists have filed a flood of frivolous
lawsuits. Although the litigation lacks
merit, companies still incur considerable
legal costs to defend themselves. One of
the most egregious examples is a federal
lawsuit seeking hundreds of millions of
dollars in damages and attorney's fees in
violation of the Racketeer Influenced and

Corrupt Organizations Act, a federal law
designed to fight organized crime. This
suit falsely accuses the industry, governor
and regulators of conspiring to poison
the state's drinking water by allowing
hydraulic fracturing in California.
Since this case contains no legally
recognizable claim, our attorneys are
working to see it dismissed, but it is only
one of a number of lawsuits. So far, every
ruling has gone in our favor, but the litigation continues and we anticipate activists
will file even more dubious legal challenges.
To thwart activist groups' ability to
challenge every drilling permit, Kern
County revamped its oil and gas ordinances
with industry support backed by a comprehensive environmental impact review.
Now certified, the EIR limits activist
groups' ability to halt production every
time they file litigation in the county that
accounts for 75 percent of California's
production.
The battles extend from the courthouse
to the statehouse. California has a global
reputation for strict environmental regulations, but that has not stopped lawmakers
who rely on activists' misinformation to
push misguided legislation. In 2015, a
bill was introduced that included a number
of goals to increase renewable energy
use. Originally, the bill included a mandated cut in petroleum use of 50 percent
by 2030, but it contained no specifics on
how to do so. Instead, the measure gave

116 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

genuity and entrepreneurship have changed
the world-and for the better. AIPRO
proudly represents those involved in this
dynamic industry. We appreciate those
who support us and encourage others to
get on board.
❒
carte blanche power to an unelected board
of bureaucrats-without legislative oversight-to achieve such an unrealistic mandate.
To put this in perspective, Californians
use 35.6 million gallons of gasoline and
7.2 million gallons of diesel a day. The
proposal would have made it necessary
to slash petroleum use to levels last seen
when Ronald Reagan was governor and
California's population was about half
what it is now.
We persuaded lawmakers that this proposal would hurt working families, who
can least afford the higher energy costs
that would follow if the bill became law.
In a Democrat-controlled legislature, this
argument resonated with lawmakers who
wanted to protect their constituents and
did not want to abdicate their legislative
authority to bureaucrats. As a result, the
fuel cut mandate was eliminated; however
the battle may re-emerge in the 2016
session.
Another irrational legislative proposal
that drew many headlines, but relied on
few facts, sought to label foods irrigated
with recycled water from hydraulic fracturing. California has had programs in
place for more than two decades for beneficial use of produced water, but that
water must meet rigorous state, local and
federal safety standards. The Environmental Protection Agency and state water
officials have concluded that there is no
evidence of contamination associated
with produced water.
Ripple Effect
Efforts to ban or enact moratoria on
production through well stimulation techniques such as hydraulic fracturing have
failed repeatedly in the state assembly.
This has led activists to push local bans,
either by qualifying measures for the
ballot or engaging local government officials at the city and county levels. Activists expect a patchwork of bans will
prompt the legislature to again consider
a statewide fracturing ban or qualify a

American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2016

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