Comments on: Santa Barbara picks drilling over greening

By: Jill

Jill — Mon, 14 Oct 2013 20:11:03 +0000

In reply to Queeg. Sounds like you're a social scientist. How did you come up with your data? Did you use polls or self-reports, or some kind of ethnographic approach to come to these conclusions? Do you measure sanity by how much people support or oppose Glen Beck? I'd love to see your research design. You seem highly intelligent.

By: Jill

Jill — Mon, 14 Oct 2013 20:09:05 +0000

In reply to jimmydeeoc. People who want a rapid transition from nonrenewable energy sources (ie, coal oil and gas) to renewable energy sources (ie, wind, sun, and sea) are not zealots. They're highly reasonable people. The academy of sciences reports that nationally we spend over $120 billion on healthcare costs from the impacts of the fossil fuel industry. Solar panels don't spill or give people cancer. Neither does wind or ocean energy. To call these particular people zealots is unreasonable and quite hysterical.

By: Queeg

Queeg — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 16:11:05 +0000

Utopia attracts the rich, deniers, healthy, modernists, selfish, deceivers, guilty, hippies, enviros, organic nut jobs, commies, the
Ted Cruz and Glen Beck haters, Israel defunders, misc truthers, tech trolls, military bashers, metros with all their warts burned off.

You should be happy this kook collector city exists.

By: jimmydeeoc

jimmydeeoc — Thu, 10 Oct 2013 01:19:50 +0000

Santa Barbara…..

It’s a beautiful place, of course, but the insanity of the Enviro-zealots wears on you. I lived there for 8 or 9 years…thru college and 4 or 5 years after. It was a loony bin then…….I can only imagine now.

Even at 25 I recognized: “These people are crazy…..”

By: Katie

Katie — Wed, 09 Oct 2013 23:46:25 +0000

Wow — This has many errors and the conclusion is way off. OPPOSITION WAS OVERWHELMING. There were THREE times the number of written comments opposing the project as supporting it! SME did their own PR petition only to counter the 2,700+ grassroots petitions opposing the Santa Maria Energy project. There was a rally attended by hundreds the weekend before and many politicians opposing the project! The project is using 300,000 gallons of water a day. That wastewater is currently being used for irrigation, and nothing that requires them to use wastewater. They also may use acid. The only reason the planning commission caved was they were afraid of SME’s lawsuits — not because SB is suddenly in favor of massive new drilling.

By: Max

Max — Wed, 09 Oct 2013 21:27:53 +0000

Some points not mentioned here:

-The 2,500 petitions were delivered by the wife of the President of Santa Maria Energy – lots of investigative journalism potential here.

-Santa Maria Energy has been doing “community outreach” throughout Santa Maria touting themselves as environmental stewards and job saviors for at least the last year. Who has more of an “outreach” budget, grassroots environmental groups like 350 Santa Barbara or a Oil Corporation?

Despite the latter fact, we still got more signatures on our petitions within a shorter period of time, and we had more bodies in that hearing room than those in favor of the project.

Another thing, the President of Santa Maria Energy has a bi-weekly colum in the Santa Maria Times. How does that work?

The “public support” for the project is a result of industry propaganda, not a “shifting mentality.”