It's been at least a decade since this editor last visited California in the role of reporter.
It was not for lack of interest. California was the crucible in which a career was forged. For a West Coast editor at the time, it was home for 6 of the industry's most tumultuous years: 1981-86 inclusive.
Faithful readers of this space will recall the use of it to aim an occasional barb at the follies of Lotusland, usually on matters involving the confluence of energy and environmental concerns. Like many of those hardy souls who continue to toil in the oil and gas industry of the state, such follies must be viewed with a mixture of exasperation and bemusement.
Let this opportunity not be an exception.
What Californians say
According to a statewide survey sponsored earlier this year by the Energy Foundation-self-described as a partnership of major charitable foundations interested in promoting sustainable energy-more than 62% of Californians "firmly believe" that the state's energy crisis is far from over.
A like number believes that the right path for a more secure energy future centers on conservation and promoting new, renewable energy supplies vs. development of oil and natural gas.
Two thirds of California voters believe that conservation, new technologies, and more emphasis on renewable energy sources will increase the state's energy security.
"This poll provides a clear reading of where Californians stand on energy issues," said Energy Foundation Executive Vice-Pres. Eric Heitz. "Californians want to change the status quo; they want new directions on energy. They want to develop more renewable power resources, to conserve energy, and prevent global warming."
What Californians do
To Benjamin Disraeli's observation that "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics," let's add a fourth: tailored surveys.
Let us observe what Californians do with regard to energy use:
- They consume 15 billion gal/year of gasoline, 11% of the US total. And much of that is wasted. According to a Texas A&M study, 4 of the top 15 most traffic-congested US urban areas in 2000 were in California. The top 2 were Los Angeles and San Francisco-Oakland, at an annual traffic delay-related gasoline waste of 204 gal and 149 gal, respectively.
- At the height of the state's energy crisis, tales were rife of public protests over being asked to idle hot tubs during certain high-use hours of the early evening, of refusals to douse decorative holiday lights, and of refusals by some businesses enjoying interruptible rates to curb power use.
- Most of California's 35,000 homeowners associations expressly forbid the use of outside clotheslines to dry clothes on homeowners' properties for fear it would hurt property values. (Can't get much more renewable than the sun, can you?)
And what of the concern over energy security?
Earlier this month, Gov. Gray Davis sent a request to US Interior Sec. Gale Norton that California be allowed to buy back 36 federal leases held by oil and gas companies off the state's coast, in a bid to stymie future drilling. The state, by the way, is facing a budget crisis.
In "After the Storm," one of a Hewlett Foundation series of publications on California's energy crises, California Energy Markets newsletter Editor Arthur O'Donnell noted that, at a recent California Energy Commission workshop on dealing with the state's energy woes, while there were some valid ideas expressed, "ellipsethere was practically no interest from the people and institutions that might actually do something to put those ideas to work-little representation from the legislature and none at all from the governor's office or the California Public Utilities Commission."
O'Donnell then notes of the CPUC's responses to the energy crisis, "ellipse(T)he common thread running through them is the need to find someone to blame and to assert control over entities and operations where it either had been relinquished to the restructured market or had never before been exercised.
"Clearly, the regulatory pendulum has swung away from promoting open markets and competition."
Prodigal's return
All this notwithstanding, the return of a former West Coast editor to his old haunts is more than a wanderlust occasioned by those of us who now find themselves part of the Okie diaspora in Houston.
It is part of an effort by OGJ to reconnect with its readers, especially in the US. The Point of View feature kicks off a series of four presenting the unique perspective of those who work in California's petroleum industry.
Expect more such focus on US operations from OGJ.
And expect a return visit from the prodigal West Coast editor.
Only next time around, I want combat pay.
