Budget Woe Led To Renewed Calif. Offshore Oil Plan

NOAKI SCHWARTZ

LOS ANGELES (AP) — With California facing a huge budget deficit, officials at the state Department of Finance saw an opportunity to resurrect a controversial proposal for oil drilling off the coast of Santa Barbara as a way to boost revenue and potentially bring $1.8 billion into state coffers over time.

Tom Sheehy, the department's chief deputy director, said he started working on a plan in March to ask the Legislature to give his department head authority to reconsider a project that had just died before the three-member State Lands Commission. At that meeting, Sheehy represented the governor's appointee on the panel and was the lone vote for the project.

"We want to let 120 elected officials get a bite at the apple instead of a panel of three," he said. "We see this as a once-in-a- lifetime opportunity."

On Thursday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled the surprise plan, which could lead to the first new offshore drilling project in more than 40 years, putting back into play one of California's most contentious environmental issues. The governor does not see his support as a lapse in his promise to oppose offshore drilling because the project falls within an exception in the state's moratorium, said Aaron McLear, a spokesman for the governor's office.