Letter: San Luis Obispo got it right on petroleum
Local leadership on Measure J has been disappointing. Some local leaders say they support Measure J and some say they don't. And some don't have anything to say at all. Most are afraid that “fracking” is too controversial a subject to waste time on because of the negative social connotation the word conjures, even though fracking isn't proposed here in San Benito County.
Guest View: Rebuttal to ‘mean-spirited’ piece on Measure J
You recently published a piece of mean-spirited zealotry from a supporter of Measure J running down the San Benito County Farm Bureau for its opposition to the local ballot measure. The writer called the county’s leading agricultural organization “misguided” for concluding that Measure J is bad for farmers and bad for San Benito County. She belittled the concerns of Farm Bureau members and others over the potential loss of property and mineral rights if Measure J passes. I am writing in response and to set the record straight.
Guest View: ACE supports Measure J initiative
Two and a half years ago San Benito County got a wakeup call that the enhanced petroleum extraction juggernaut that has swept large areas of the US can happen anywhere, even here. Mysterious giant thumper trucks showed up in our neighborhood on the western edge of San Benito County, and it soon was revealed that they were prospecting for oil. Neighbors were concerned, and a grass roots effort was launched, Aromas Cares for the Environment or ACE. We educated ourselves about petroleum extraction, and learned that there are new technologies such as fracking being widely used in other states. We also discovered that San Benito County’s regulation of oil drilling was almost non-existent. ACE set out to do something about that. We worked with the Board of Supervisors for almost a year, culminating in the passage of a new County ordinance that brought some scrutiny to the process of obtaining an oil drilling permit here. The ordinance doesn’t have all of the protections that we wanted, but it was the best compromise that could be approved at the time.
Guest View: Response to fractured fairy tale presented on Measure J
In response to Kate Woods fractured fairy tale article "Do You Know Your Mineral Rights", Ms. Woods could not be more incorrect if she tried...and she tried pretty hard. I have opposed Measure J since I learned of the idea in January of this year. Yes, I was alarmed about Ms. Woods public claims that 'fracking will poison our water' back then, so I did some research. And after writing multiple letters and articles in the local press about water, petroleum production and my opposition to Measure J, I don't consider myself 'tellingly silent'.
