Schwarzenegger ends support for offshore drilling

SACRAMENTO, California - Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has withdrawn his support for a plan to expand oil drilling off the California coast, citing the massive oil spill that resulted from a drilling rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.

The announcement assures that no new drilling will take place off the state's coastline in the foreseeable future because Schwarzenegger would have to include the drilling proposal in his May revision of the state budget.

Speaking at a news conference near Sacramento, the governor said television images of the oil spill in the Gulf have changed his mind about the safety of ocean-based oil platforms.

"You turn on the television and see this enormous disaster, you say to yourself, 'Why would we want to take on that kind of risk?"' Schwarzenegger said.

The Republican governor had proposed expanding oil drilling off the coast of Santa Barbara County to help close the state's $US20 billion budget deficit. Democrats last year blocked a similar proposal, but Schwarzenegger renewed his support earlier this year, saying it was a reliable way to increase revenue as the state grapples with an ongoing fiscal crisis.

A deal struck between some environmental groups and Plains Exploration & Production, known as PXP, was estimated to bring the state some $100 million. The Houston-based company was going to slant-drill up to 30 new shafts into state waters from an existing platform that is sitting in federal waters.

Schwarzenegger said he would find another way to plug the state's budget deficit.

"If I have a choice to make up $100 million and what I see in Gulf of Mexico, I'd rather find a way to make up that $100 million."

The California coast was not part of President Barack Obama's announcement a month ago when he said he wanted to expand oil drilling off the Atlantic coast and in eastern portions of the Gulf. Including California would have been too difficult politically because of strong opposition within the state's congressional delegation and with environmental groups in the state.

A 1969 blowout on a Union Oil platform off the Santa Barbara coast fouled miles of ocean and beaches and led to a moratorium on offshore drilling.

-AP