Yes on Measure P

This Santa Barbara County measure will prohibit new oil operations that involve fracking/ acidification/ steam injection.  I see this as an oil development vs. water resource protection issue. New, intensive oil extraction technologies are proliferating around the country and the environmental risks are not fully understood or are being minimized. The only protection our local ground water has from risky oil extraction is a 3 to 2 vote on the board of supervisors. If the always closely divided third district goes to a pro-oil candidate in the future, that's it. We can wait forever for the State or Feds to regulate while we risk more and more high intensity projects getting into the pipeline, or the people of the county can say that we prioritize water over oil and hold any future board to that standard. The is a lot of talk about how this will cause a raft of lawsuits.  Possible. The oil interests often sue when they hear NO and it will happen without Measure P as well.  The only alternative to lawsuits is to let powerful unscrupulous people get their own way regardless of the cost to the community. We need to prioritize our tourism, agriculture and the integrity of our water over oil extraction. That is prudent self governance.