Martin Feinberg, Culver City Realtor, was interested to learn that the Culver City Council recently approved a resolution that supports a ban on new offshore oil and gas drilling. Even though the city does not have authority to regulate drilling in the Pacific Ocean, the ban applies to both federal and state waters. The Culver City Real Estate area resolution deals with new offshore drilling permits only.
Many members of the Culver City Council believe that it is time to invest in more jobs that focus on clean energy, especially considering the current environment. To that end, the resolution, which aligns the city with most of California’s legislator’s positions on offshore drilling, was sent to several different state and federal agencies that govern and regulate drilling.
“It takes decades to get rid of a new lease. We don’t have decades on climate change,” Councilman Alex Fisch said about approving the resolution. “We need to start now.”
Martin Feinberg, Realtor, noted that no all Culver City Councilmembers agreed with the resolution to ban offshore drilling however. Councilman Goran Eriksson stated that he had reservations about approving the resolution because it is focused on a non-local issue. Eriksson stated that he believed it was inappropriate to spend City Council time on items that don’t directly impact Culver City residents.
“This issue is, in my mind, not what I called a Culver City-specific or a Culver City-centric issue, which is our primary responsibility,” Eriksson said during a conference call at the council meeting. “…We have other things to spend time on.”