In separate actions yesterday, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and California Assemblymember Pedro Nava put out clear signals that neither the federal government nor the State of California are willing to roll over and give the oil companies whatever they ask for, which has too often been at the expense of both our environment and our economy.

Salazar’s reforms, which affect drilling on public lands and offshore, mean the Bureau of Land Management no longer will simply accept oil and gas industry nominations when the agency is compiling a list of parcels to be offered at auction. New policies will mean BLM officials will conduct on-the-ground analyses of parcels for potential resource conflicts before they are listed for leasing. This will allow more organizations and individuals with wildlife, cultural-resource and environmental concerns to provide information that could counter industry interests. Predictably, oil companies howled. Secretary Salazar responded: “Under the previous administration, the oil and gas companies were essentially kings of the world, with Interior their handmaiden. Those from the industry who are crying out are simply crying because we are being thoughtful and supporting development in the right way and the right places.”

In California, Assemblymember Nava introduced the Oil Industry Fair Share Act, which will establish an oil severance tax of 10% on the gross value of each barrel of crude oil pumped by companies in California. This tax will provide more than $1.5 billion in revenue to the General Fund annually. “California oil companies are getting a free ride. Right now, California is the only major oil producing state that does not charge a severance tax on oil extraction. It is time for California to catch up with Alaska, Texas, Alabama, and Arkansas. We need to collect the people’s share of this revenue source by forcing Big Oil to pay its fair share,” said Nava.

This just in from Pedro Nava’s office:

June 17th, 2009

Budget Conference Committee Doesn’t Consider Governor’s Scheme to Expand Offshore Oil Drilling

Sacramento- The Budget Conference Committee rejected the Governor’s attempt to undermine the State Lands Commission offshore oil leasing authority. New offshore oil drilling was not included in the final recommendations. Congratulations to the environmental coalition that worked tirelessly to save our coast from the first new offshore oil drilling lease since the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill.

“For over 40 years, Californians have not allowed a single new oil lease off our coast, and the State Lands Commission has protected us from this risk,” Said Terry O’Day of Environment Now, “Undermining the Commission’s independence is wrong for this project, for this budget crisis, and for our future.”

I had the pleasure of working with Sierra Club California, Surfrider Foundation, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Environment Now, Environment California and others in defeating the Governor’s proposal.

“Sierra Club California applauds the Conference Committee’s decision to keep new offshore oil drilling out of its budget-balancing proposal. We will continue to work with Assemblymember Nava and other coastal defenders to oppose efforts to overturn the State Lands Commission’s denial of the PXP proposal,” said Bill Magavern, Director of Sierra Club California.

It was especially important to beat this bad deal because Interior Secretary Salazar is right now writing new offshore oil lease proposals for the nation. Any new drilling in California sends the wrong message to the federal government.

“At a time when new offshore drilling threatens our coasts around the nation, it is more important than ever to ensure that our decision making processes are sound, independent and resistant to tampering by special interests regardless of the circumstances,” says Surfrider Foundation’s Chad Nelsen.

Let’s savor this victory, but for only a few moments. The issue of offshore oil drilling isn’t dead yet. There is the possibility the Big 5 will try to revive this bad deal as part of budget negotiations. We still have work to do.

But for now, a big round of applause for those environmental champions who fought this battle and won.