Mendocino County Today: Sunday, Oct 26, 2014

• Giants Win Game 4
• Diane Paget
• Lintott Goodlife
• Candidate Chatter
• Catch of the Day
• Piss Tests
• Master Gardeners
• Labs
• Semicolon Haters
• Royal Limbaugh
• Seaside Beach
• Grandfather Time
• Cannabis Policy
• Measure P

GIANTS COME FROM BEHIND with good hitting to rout Royals in Game 4 to tie the World series at 2-2.

http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2014/10/26/7071507/world-series-2014-giants-royals-game-4-final-score

DIANE PAGET’S MEMORIAL

Diane Paget, 73, 40-plus-year resident of Anderson Valley, activist, community organizer, and acupressurist, passed away in her sleep on Wednesday night. A potluck lunch and memorial for her will be held at the Anderson Valley Grange on Sunday, November 2nd at noon. Diane requested that people bring or wear any art or craft items she had made for them. And bring your own dishes for the potluck, please.

— Jade Paget-Seekins

* * *

Diane Paget was one of the handful of community members who gathered to begin AV Foodshed 10 years ago. She was also our Boonville Farmers' Market manager for two years. She was an instrumental part of the beginnings of our Mendocino County Local Food Guide, the Not-So-Simple Living Fair, the Boonville Winter Market and other Foodshed activities too numerous to mention. She will be greatly missed by our community.

We had an impromptu mini-memorial for Diane after the final Boonville Farmers' Market this morning.

BIRDIES WHO FOLLOW FACEBOOK are mystified by a steady stream of posts over the last few years of former DA Meredith Lintott, and the good life she seems to be enjoying.

New outdoor kitchen at her home, and lots of travel including this recent post about playing in the swank little town of Sayulita along the Mexican coast.

Wait a minute, didn't Lintott file for bankruptcy while seeking re-election in 2010? At the time didn't she owe $1 million in debt despite she and her husband pulling in $200,000 plus a year? So can we assume the debtors have been paid, and her private law practice rolling in cash?

IN MENDOCINO COUNTY, we’ve come to expect empty rhetoric from political candidates, from school boards to Congress. The would-be leadership talks about goals and visions and we-shoulds and we-musts — totally on rhetorical auto-pilot, and always going way out of their way not to offend anybody.

FOR EXAMPLE, when Fort Bragg planner/dispensary owner Paula Dieter ran against Kendall Smith for Fourth District Supervisor in 2008, Ms. Dieter refused to bring up Smith's travel chiseling, even though by then Smith's thefts had been well-documented by the Grand Jury and her transparently false excuses thoroughly debunked.

We suggested to Ms. Dieter — who would have made a fine Supervisor — that she had nothing to lose by bringing it up because she was behind in the unofficial polls. (Natch, the local Democratic Party apparatus supported Smith.) Dieter agreed, but thought that bringing it up might offend more voters than she would attract, and it was certainly easy to imagine Smith's supporters whining about “negativity” and “divisiveness,” the inevitable, catch-all pejoratives Mendo Feeb applies to any opinion they don't approve of.

SO, ELECTIONS around here, then, occur on about the same intellectual level of those you remember from 6th grade, or maybe lower. You’ll never hear any candidate discuss actual government operations or management, budget priorities, Brown Act compliance, etc. And the standard highly orchestrated Q&A sessions avoid specific questions and specific answers, preferring instead the open-ended question sure to produce the comforting vacuities everyone involved expects without follow-up.

YOU’LL NEVER HEAR questions like, “How many planning commission meetings have you attended and which decisions did you disagree with?” or, “Have you reviewed the management reporting of the organization and, if so, how would you improve it?” or, “Which recent decisions of the Council/Board did you disagree with and why?”, or, most important, “What specifically do you want to accomplish if you are elected?”

AND, in general, incumbents have an inherent advantage because they’ve attended more council/board meetings than their opponent, so they filibuster with generic meeting info and sound like they’re in the know. So the political bar is pretty low for Mendo candidates.

The Fort Bragg Advocate and the Willits New have conducted Q&A with the candidates for the Fort Bragg City Council and the Willits City Council. Recently the Advocate News asked the five Fort Bragg City Council candidates (for three seats) to comment on the subject of “drugs.”

Most of the answers were the usual Mendo mishmosh of more cops, more treatment, more attention to young people. Predictably, the only candidate who fell below Mendo’s already extremely low standard for Mendo Q&A was Fort Bragg City Council candidate Mark Iacuaniello: “The dangers are really apparent; not just to the individual but to the community as a whole, in terms of people who are using them and abusing them,” Iacuaniello said. The Advocate’s interviewer then summarized Iacuaniello's meaningless strings of clichés, at least sparing us some blather: “He also emphasized education, being proactive (ever hear a smart person deploy “proactive”), and trying to set up appropriate, practical ways of enforcing the law.” “I would need to sit down and work with the police force and see what issues they're facing and see how, then, the city could support them. I think the two best places where we would be most likely to help is with the police force and then of course working with our schools. Education is key, and then obviously enforcement,” Iacuaniello said. At which point someone should have begun hurling pies.

The other candidates at least tried to separate their marijuana remarks from their meth remarks, but otherwise said nothing to distinguish them from their opponents. I'd campaign for anyone who said, “Nobody knows what the fuck to do. There's a hole in America's soul that causes millions of US to zone ourselves out…” Etc.

IN THE WILLITS NEWS interviews with the three candidates for two City Council seats there were some indirectly interesting remarks about the Bypass. In Willits the candidates are incumbents and Chamber of Commerce boosters Larry Stranske and Ron Orenstein versus newcomer Robin Leler, ex-wife of the well-known biointensive organic gardener John Jeavons, and co-author of at least one book on organic gardening.

The Willits News asked, “What can the city council do to move the city forward in the next few years to prepare for a post-bypass Willits?”

Ron Orenstein replied (we quote these responses here verbatim; apparently nobody proofed the answers so there are a few spots where we have absolutely no idea what they’re talking about), “It is a fact that something like 40% of the sales tax revenue comes from the sale of gasoline. But it is my belief that when the bypass opens it is not going to have that much of an impact on the local economy. First of all, everyone that drives to the tax [sic] still has to drive up [sic] south Main Street. And I believe that more and more of the business [sic] are creating that environment that will attract people to come to their business even when they don't have to. We're making this town into a destination. The Main St. Merchants' Group is picking up the ball in conjunction with the city and the chamber of commerce and they're making some good plans. I think we're going to be fine.”

Larry Stranske: “The sales tax... and the gas tax, and the sales tax from nursery supplies... and the half-cent sales tax are the biggest revenue havers that we have. And I feel that there's going to be a bump in the road [sic] when the freeway starts to go through because there's going to be less people going through town. Another thing that people need to consider, is that if the state legalizes marijuana [sic]. I mean it just makes more sense to me...why not grow it where you can run a tractor by it [sic]...and so I don't know how that will affect our economy. Because our economy now...is pretty much based on marijuana. I would say that we need to start cutting and making our budget balanced. And if you don't start off with a deficit then you can make some adjustments.”

Robin Leler: “We are still going to need a second route through town [she provided several examples of continued traffic. — The Willits News]...We're going to have to develop [sic] more of our side streets. I agree with Holly [Madrigal, who resigned to run for Third District Supervisor], we need to position ourselves to take advantage of our most important resource which is cannabis, right now. I think we need to be exploring the idea of dispensaries, of testing labs, of using our expertise here, and I've said this before, that I could foresee Willits being a bed, bud and breakfast capital. There's our economic development. We overused our timber, let's not do the same thing with cannabis... we want to be a leader in medicinal and recreational uses of cannabis.”

What can we make of this? 1. The City of Willits is surviving on gas taxes and sales taxes on pot-related supplies, hardly a reliable revenue stream. 2. Those taxes might well go down after the bypass (or not, who knows?), and even some bypass supporters realize that there will probably be no appreciable reduction in downtown traffic, 3. Some Willits people seriously think Willits will be a deliberate “destination”? and is b. on the verge of being a “bed, bud and breakfast capital” and a “leader in medicinal and recreational uses of cannabis”! (In many unintentional ways, Willits is already there.)

WHAT ABOUT the cost of maintaining Main Street after Caltrans turns it over to the City? Don’t ask. (— ms)

CATCH OF THE DAY, October 25, 2014

MIRANDA ADAMS, Ukiah. Resisting arrest.

DESTINY ARNOLD, Ukiah. Drunk in public.

JONATHAN BRADBROOK, Gualala. Unauthorized entry into building without owner’s consent.

ARIK CALDWELL, Laytonville. Resisting/threatening officer.

SALVADORE CASILLAS-VITAL, Calpella. DUI, driving without a license.

SEYRAI COLBERG, Fort Bragg. Domestic battery.

RICKIE CURTIS, Willits. Drunk in public.

SHELBY DAVIS, Ukiah. Drunk in public.

JONI DEARING, Fort Bragg. Possession of drug paraphernalia.

HEATHER DEWOLF, Fort Bragg. Defrauding innkeeper, drunk in public, probation revocation. (Frequent flyer.)

ROBERT FULLER, Fort Bragg. Vehicle theft.

JOE GARCIA, Ukiah. Under influence of controlled substance.

JESSE GIBSON, Redwood Valley. Drunk in public, probation revocation.

AMY JONES, Willits. Under influence of controlled substance.

STEVEN KLOPP, Philadelphia/Ukiah. Burglary/Shoplifting, probation revocation.

SUNNY LAUCHAIRE, Santa Rosa/Ukiah. Driving stolen vehicle, driving with DUI-suspended license, probation revocation.

JEFFREY LOCKWOOD, New Orleans/Willits. Drunk in public.

JESSICA NORTON, Willits. Failure to appear.

ANTHONY OROZCO, Ukiah. Under influence of controlled substance. False ID.

FELIPE REYES, Ukiah. DUI.

MARGARITO RUIZ, Ukiah. Under influence of controlled substance.

TOMAS SANCHEZ, Redwood Valley. DUI.

EDWARD STEELE, Ukiah. Probation revocation. (Frequent flyer.)

RIVER STEWART, Willits. Driving without valid license, probation revocation.

WALTER STOUGH, Fort Bragg. Possession of drug paraphernalia.

JOSHUA TORRES, Hopland. Possession of firearm by prohibited person, probation violation.

CORRINA VALLEY, Hopland. Under influence of controlled substance.

PHILIP VALLEY SR. Ukiah. Under influence of controlled substance.

BRYCE WOODS, Ukiah. Drunk in public.

PISS TEST ’EM ALL!

Letter to the Editor

You say Yes on 46 in honor of your dear old mum, a nurse who loathed doctors. Nurses will be next on the drug war jihad, you know. Scientific American also supports Prop 46. One thing they and you have in common is that our glorious Fourth Estate is arguably protected by the 1st Amendment from mandatory drug tests. No matter that these types regularly emit ignorant, absurd, vicious statements, glorified as “reportage,” that cause real lethal damage in the real world. If I were, for example, an ER physician, I might like to relax with a toot or a toke after a hard week saving many more lives than I've buried. And if I were such a person, and had a gram of self respect, I would wave my big finger and with a hearty “Sit on it and rotate!” be out the door the moment some Federal or State Piss Officer demands to witness my urinating a sample for our exalted drug warriors. But it seems like freedom's just another word for nothing much at all. Now that the AVA is officially pro-drug war and the colossal industry it has spawned, let's go all the way! Let's have a Proposition on the ballot requiring drug tests for all lawyers and politicians! These types regularly insulate themselves from laws they create to oppress other citizens. Messed-up, stoned lawyers and politicians cause more real damage in the real world than all the doctors on the planet. Fair is fair, Mein Redaktor! Get on the petition bandwagon Now!!

Jay Williamson, Santa Rosa

ED NOTE: Pretty big leap, Jay, from dope tests for doctors to being for the war on drugs, and I doubt very much nurses are “next.” As for the Fourth Estate, at least its older members, mostly juicers, especially at the mega-damage levels you refer to.

THE UC MASTER GARDENER PROGRAM is accepting applications for the 2015 training. This year’s classes will be held in Ukiah on Wednesday afternoons from January 21 through April 29th and will be taught by a combination of local experts and specialists from UC’s Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Graduates who earn certification are expected to share plant and garden-related resources in their communities as Master Gardener volunteers. For information, contact MG Program Coordinator Wendy Roberts at wendy@mcn.org or visit: http://cemendocino.ucanr.edu

Wendy A.Roberts, Master Gardener Coordinator, P.O. Box 666. Mendocino, CA 95460-0666. 707 937-4702. wendy@mcn.org

www.gardenbythesea.org

LETTER TO PAM VESEY, copy editor at Marian Evans publishers who was working on what would become writer Donald Westlake's novel Brothers Keepers. February 24, 1975

Dear Pam,

I don't intend to get into a thing here like Brian with his commas, but I do want to rise to say a word or two for the semicolon. It does exist as a tool of punctuation in written English prose, and is just as respectable as any other piece of punctuation you can think of; goes to church on Sundays and all the rest of it. In fact, my Random House Dictionary goes so far as to define it. “The punctuation mark used to indicate a major division in a sentence where a more distinct separation is felt between clauses or items on a list than is indicated by a comma, as between the two clauses of a compound sentence.” I point out in that definition the phrase “is felt,” and I suggest that the individual doing the feeling is presumed to be the writer. I point out the phrase “more distinct separation,” and I suggest that the purpose of the semicolon is at least in part rhythmic. My own rhythms tend to be long ones, and I grant you that as a result I tend to over-use the semicolon, but some of them are right, and in most instances (in this book and others) the copy-editor’s alternative is less correct. Breaking the offending sentence into two sentences is grammatically correct but often rhythmically wrong. Replacing the semicolon with a colon is correct only if a list or a new sentence follows the punctuation, in which case (a) I would probably have used a colon myself, and (b) a double space should follow, as it follows a period. Replacing the colon with a dash is never right, since dashes, except in speech — in which they indicate a break in the flow — must always appear in pairs. The function of the dash in ordinary prose is identical to — but less formal than — the function of the parenthesis. Why does everybody hate the poor semicolon? It’s nice; it’s useful; it’s even rather pretty. Second topic. I have added a page to the very end of the book. It didn’t seem right to end on a downer, so I brought Brother Benedict home and showed him happy. (The new material contains a semicolon; it has orders to call me if anybody gives it any trouble.) Yours in Strunk — Don

(From The Getaway Car: A Donald Westlake Nonfiction Miscellany, edited by Levi Stahl)

STEVE TALBOT'S 1995 DOCUMENTARY "Rush Limbaugh's America" revealed that from 1979 to 1983 "the dirigible of drivel" in Alexander Cockburn's memorable assessment, was an office pinky for the Kansas City Royals.

THE MENDOCINO LAND TRUST ANNOUNCES THAT Seaside Beach, a very popular white sand beach north of Fort Bragg, is being transferred to Mendocino Land Trust for the pubic to enjoy.

Rixanne Wehren, executive director of Coastal Land Trust, has managed the property since 1992 when Irma Johnson gifted the beach to the trust. Irma Johnson wanted the management of the beach to be cared for by a conservation organization, at a time when people had the custom of driving on the beach.

Wehren grew up in Southern California, where she witnessed firsthand the loss of open space and agricultural lands to urban development. This experience was formative for her, and when she moved to Albion in the 1990s, Rixanne founded Coastal Land Trust, "to preserve and cherish natural lands."

For 20 years, Wehren guided the Coastal Land Trust, acquiring Seaside Beach and Meadow and a number of other conservation and trail easements. Last year, Wehren and her board of directors realized that a larger organization was needed to successfully manage its trails and conserved areas for the long term, and made the decision to donate the majority of its assets to the Mendocino Land Trust.

With assistance from the Community Foundation of Mendocino County, Mendocino Land Trust reviewed in detail all of the Coastal Land Trust holdings, and stepped up to take most of the conserved assets.

"When Rixanne asked Mendocino Land Trust to take on ownership of its protected conservation lands and easements to ensure the community continued to have great places to share with family and friends, we were delighted to do so," said Louisa Morris, associate director, "and we are especially thrilled to have family and dog-friendly Seaside Beach."

Other Easements

Big River Conservation Easement and Heritage Trail will also transfer to the Mendocino Land Trust.

The Enchanted Meadows Wetland Sanctuary property owned by Coastal Land Trust will go to a nonprofit organization, Friends of Enchanted Meadow.

The trail from Harbor Lite Lodge to Noyo Harbor is under consideration by the Noyo Harbor District and the City of Fort Bragg.

Mission

This project will effectively consolidate two land conservation organizations, leaving only one organization in need of funding and a sum that is greater and more durable than the two parts.

"Land trusts work to preserve the quality of life for people of all ages throughout our rural county," said Ann Cole, executive director. "Mendocino Land Trust is a collaborative partner to our sister land trusts, as well as other community benefit organizations, tourism-based businesses, and local, state, and federal government entities.

"Mendocino Land Trust would like to share our appreciation for Rixanne Wehren for her years of dedication to conservation and for the legacy she created for Mendocino County."

Wehren will be retiring from public service and concentrating on her cartography business, GeoGraphics Maps and Photos.

‘CANNABIS POLICY SUMMIT’ seeks 2015 ballot measure

by Daniel Mintz

The Humboldt County branch of a state political action committee has organized a stakeholders meeting to establish what a press release describes as a “progressive, sustainable and comprehensive county cannabis land use ordinance.”

California Cannabis Voice Humboldt brought together 35 stakeholders in an invitation-only event at Eureka’s Wharfinger Building on Oct. 22. “Grower delegates” participated in a professionally-facilitated discussion with environmentalists, business leaders, attorneys and government officials.

HumCo Supervisors Ryan Sundberg and Estelle Fennell were there to listen as the participants exchanged ideas on a land use ordinance to regulate cultivation.

Richard Marks, a county Harbor District commissioner, is one of Cannabis Voice’s organizers. After the summit, he described its discussion on an ordinance as “legislation on the run.” The ideas that emerged will be considered by an ordinance drafting committee, which he’s part of.

The next phase of the effort will be public – a preliminary draft of an ordinance will be presented for comments during a Nov. 6 forum and panel discussion at the Blue Lake Casino’s Sapphire Palace.

Last week’s confab included people who have legislative experience and know-how. “We had observers from all over the West Coast – we had policy writers,” said Marks. “It’s was exciting – mind blowing.”

The county’s Cannabis Voice branch includes nine grower delegates elected by the group’s membership. One of them, Sunshine Johnston, said the discussion is part of a new trend – growers are now uniting to influence and help create new policies.

“We are seeing the beginnings of growers organizing around cannabis in Humboldt County,” she said, adding that in Colorado and Washington, where marijuana is now legal under state laws, “Growers have had no say on the regulation of cannabis.”

Consensus has already emerged in Humboldt. “One thing that we all to seem to agree on is that it is an agricultural product and it ought to be treated as an agricultural product,” said Johnston.

She added that with legalization apparently looming, growers who are participating in county permit processes will be easily integrated into a state system and will be “the first to set up shop.”

Jonathan Gilbert, also a grower delegate, has firsthand experience with the law enforcement approach that seems to be becoming outdated. He said he’s a medical grower who’s been arrested multiple times for marijuana possession and was in an Arizona state prison for one-and-a-half years for it.

Noting the wide-ranging assortment of participants in the summit, Gilbert said he’s “pleasantly surprised, to say the least, at everyone’s level of pragmatism.”

He added, “They seem to acknowledge that cannabis has its place in our community and now it’s about bringing all aspects of that together to form language in this county that protects us, as a brand.”

Luke Bruner is Cannabis Voice Humboldt’s treasurer, a leading member of the Emerald Growers Association and the business manager of the Wonderland Nursery clone shop in Garberville.

He described the event as historic, saying, “The community has been separated and segregated for so long and today, people got together and that completely and totally changed.”

After the public meeting in Blue Lake, another private stakeholder meeting will be held, Bruner continued, and then an ordinance draft will be publicly presented in a series of community meetings around the county.

He said part of the effort is to prepare for legalization in the state, which political observers are predicting for 2016. But the near-term goal is produce a land use ordinance that will go through a petitioning process.

Once it qualifies for the 2015 ballot, county supervisors will have the option of passing it outright or referring it to a public vote.

The ordinance will be a “olive branch” to growers who want to cultivate their crops responsibly, Bruner continued. And he encouraged those who use and grow cannabis to openly communicate.

“There’s nothing more important than this: come out, come out, come out,” he said. “It is unjust that the cannabis community lives segregated or is stigmatized or forced into shame -- we do nothing to be ashamed of and we are not ashamed.”

BIG OIL SPENDS BIG MONEY TO STOP FRACKING BAN IN SANTA BARBARA COUNTY

by Dan Bacher

The oil industry, the largest and most powerful corporate lobby in California, is dumping millions of dollars into a campaign to stop the passage of a fracking ban by the voters of Santa Barbara County.

The struggle by proponents of Measure P, the initiative to ban fracking and other extreme oil extraction techniques in Santa Barbara County, is a David vs. Goliath battle that parallels the No on Proposition 1 campaign. Big oil companies are dumping millions into the coastal county to defeat the measure, just like corporate agribusiness, billionaires and oil companies are spending millions to pass Governor Jerry Brown's water bond.

The Yes on Measure P campaign had a war chest of about $284,000 as of October 16, 2014, largely from hundreds of individuals and county residents, according to the Santa Barbara Independent. This amount notably mounts to only a small fraction of anti-Measure P funds.

Measure P opponents have raised $7.6 million. "Californians for Energy Independence" has funneled over $5 million of its $7.6 million war chest to the 'No' side, according to the same piece.

"The two single-biggest donors to the committee have been Chevron ($2.5 million) and Aera Energy ($2.1 million), the latter of which is rumored to be contemplating applying for 300 cyclic steam injection wells here," according to the Independent. "Other Santa Barbara County interests that have contributed to that state group include Santa Maria Energy and Pacific Coast Energy Company, both of whose future plans could be thwarted if the initiative passes. The regional fundraising team for 'No' has seen additional donations from Santa Maria Energy ($88,134) and Pacific Coast Energy Company ($157,035), as well as Venoco ($80,000) and ERG Operating Company ($90,893), which recently applied for 233 cyclic steam injection wells."

And who is speaking out against Measure P? Yes, it's the one and only Catherine Reheis-Boyd, President of the Western States Petroleum Association and Chair of the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create fake "marine protected areas" in Southern California. She also served on the task forces to create so- called "marine protected areas on the Central Coast, North Central Coast and North Coast.

Reheis-Boyd, the oil industry lobbyist whom state officials and corporate "environmentalists" greenwashed as the Chair of the allegedly "most open and transparent" environmental process in California history, proclaimed, "Any reduction in domestic oil production here means more dependence on foreign oil. We should be looking for ways to encourage more domestic production of oil and jobs that go with it rather than passing laws that reduce our domestic energy production."

She failed to mention that the oil industry was fracking like crazy in the Santa Barbara Channel as she oversaw the creation of "marine protected areas" that fail to protect the ocean from fracking, oil drilling, pollution, military testing, corporate aquaculture and all human impacts on the ocean other than fishing and gathering. An Associated Press and Freedom of Information Act investigation revealed that Southern California have been fracked at least 203 times over the past 20 years. (http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/10/19/calif-finds-more-instances-of-offshore-fracking/3045721/ )

The stakes are huge in this campaign by grassroots activists to stop fracking and other environmentally destructive oil extraction techniques. Documents recently obtained by the Center for Biological Diversity reveal that almost 3 billion gallons of oil industry wastewater were illegally dumped into Central California aquifers that supply drinking water and irrigation water for farms.

The Center said the wastewater entered the aquifers through at least nine injection disposal wells used by the oil industry to dispose of waste contaminated with fracking (hydraulic fracturing) fluids and other pollutants. (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/california_fracking/pdfs/20140915_State_Board_UIC_well_list_Category_1a.pdf )

The documents also reveal that Central Valley Regional Water Quality Board testing found high levels of arsenic, thallium and nitrates, contaminants sometimes found in oil industry wastewater, in water- supply wells near these waste-disposal operations.

The illegal dumping took place in a state where Big Oil is the most powerful corporate lobby and the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) is the most powerful corporate lobbying organization, alarming facts that the majority of the public and even many environmental activists are not aware of.

An analysis of reports filed with the California Secretary of State shows that the oil industry collectively spent over $63 million lobbying California policymakers between January 1, 2009 and June 30, 2014. The Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), led by President Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the former chair of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create so- called "marine protected areas" in Southern California, topped the oil industry lobby spending with $26,969,861.

A compelling short film directed by a documentary film-maker (Road to Fallujah) explains what's at stake in the Proposition P campaign: http://youtu.be/Nk-MdvOPfJk

Please share it and tell everyone you know in Santa Barbara County to vote YES on Measure P to protect our country from fracking and other extreme oil extraction techniques. We can't allow Big Oil's money and influence to defeat this grassroots campaign to halt environmentally destructive oil extraction techniques in Santa Barbara County!

Background on Measure P:

Measure P Protects Santa Barbara County from the threat of extreme oil extraction, according to the Vote Yes on P campaign

Oil companies have identified thousands upon thousands of potential drill locations across our region -- from Santa Maria to Carpinteria.

This is not the conventional oil that we've been drilling for a hundred years. The only way to extract this oil is through the use of extreme techniques like:

Fracking: This technique involves injecting water, sand and chemicals underground to break up rock and extract oil and gas. The practice has been halted or banned in 12 states due to water contamination issues, earthquakes and other problems.

Acidizing: This is similar to fracking, but instead of breaking up the rock, it uses hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acid to melt the rock. According to the Centers for Disease Control, hydrofluoric acid is one of the most toxic chemicals in industrial use.

Steam Injection: This water-intensive process involves steam-heating oil to 500 degrees to get it out of the ground. It is the most energy- intensive form of oil production and is linked to groundwater contamination. For instance, a recent spill in Cold Lake, Canada contaminated a lake and aquifer. In the Orcutt oil field near Santa Maria, there have been 94 unexpected oil "seeps."

For more information, go to: http://www.voteyesonp.org