California Conservationists, Oil Company Strike Deal

Conservation groups on Wednesday unveiled a new version of an unusual agreement in which they will lobby for an oil company's expansion of drilling off the coast of California in exchange for definite end dates to its local petroleum operations. The revision attempts to address criticisms of the original 2008 agreement by making its terms public, granting the state the right to enforce it and strengthening provisions to ensure an end to operations offshore from scenic Santa Barbara County. A week after President Barack Obama moved to open many federal waters to drilling - except along the West Coast - local environmental groups accompanied by area political leaders unveiled the revised plan at Shoreline Park on a bluff overlooking the blue Pacific with oil rigs in the distance...more