Governor seeks to use oil money to save parks

[The Straight Story]

Governor seeks to use oil money to save parks

(01-08) 18:25 PST San Francisco --

A new round of political sniping erupted Friday when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told California to give him new oil drilling off the coast so that he can give the profits to the beleaguered state park system.

The quid pro quo would revive a Texas company's proposal to tap an oil field just off the coast of Santa Barbara and save California State Parks from more swings of the budget ax.

The governor's plan is to use $140 million in oil lease money in the next fiscal year from the so-called Tranquillon Ridge project to fund the parks, which are reeling from $14.2 million in cuts last summer and the prospect of more this year.

Park supporters questioned whether that much money could be had from the Tranquillon lease, but the governor's finance director, Ana Matosantos, promised to cover the rest out of the general fund if the amount falls short.

"Parks get funded either way," Matosantos said.

The proposed trade-off nevertheless prompted an angry reaction from legislators, environmentalists and park supporters.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/09/MNIJ1BFPO7.DTL#ixzz0cAgtleQ8


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/09/MNIJ1BFPO7.DTL#ixzz0cAgm69LJ

[marmar]

1. So he's holding the parks ransom to get his offshore oil drilling?

He's the worst Austrian import since Falco.