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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend June 23, 2005 OSPIRG seeks out coastal-drilling foes By PARIS ACHEN Mail Tribune Canvassers from the Oregon State Public Interest Research Group will go door-to-door this summer to homes in Ashland, Grants Pass and Medford, rallying support for measures to prevent offshore oil and gas drilling on Oregon’s coast. It’s the latest in OSPIRG’s annual summer campaigns. Canvassers also try to recruit more members to the nonprofit advocacy group. Membership requires making a donation to the organization. This year, the group hopes to raise awareness about proposed provisions in congressional legislation that could allow an inventory of any oil and gas reserves and exploration of the West Coast and East Coast, most of which are now protected by a federal moratorium on oil and gas activities. Another proposal would allow governors to opt out of the moratorium. Advertisement "This is an effort to lock up the Oregon Coast before it’s too late," said Jeremy Wright, the group’s environmental lobbyist. "We decided on this campaign to really educate Oregonians that this is real, and now we are seeing it in Congress." Canvassers will ask residents to sign a petition calling for a state ban on drilling in Oregon waters and urging their representatives in Congress to oppose proposals in the Energy Bill that would open the coast to inventories and exploration. A previous state ban on drilling in Oregon waters — within three miles of the shoreline — expired in 1995. Opponents fear offshore drilling would blight the beauty of the coast and destroy the ocean’s delicate ecosystem, Wright said. "No one wants to see oil and gas derricks along the coast," Wright said. "It’s not something that jibes with the values in our state." Some of the six canvassers knocking on doors in the Rogue Valley are year-round employees of the organization. Others are college students who brave the heat and the occasional slammed door to earn $3,000 to $5,000 for the summer and get involved in their communities. "A lot more people than you can imagine really do care and want to get involved but don’t know how," said Roland Kerner, a campaign director. "We give them the opportunity to get involved and have their voices heard." Canvassers will visit neighborhoods in Ashland this week and next. They’ll make the rounds in Grants Pass and Medford in July. About 3,000 homes are on the itinerary. Rising gas prices have fueled the effort to open more areas in the United States to oil and gas drilling, said Lee Fuller, vice president of governmental relations for the Independent Petroleum Association of America. But most of the interest focuses on the East Coast. "There is no specific target for Oregon," Fuller said. "There is more known about the resources on the East Coast. The West Coast really has not had much activity to evaluate the resources, except in California." There are about 20 exploratory wells offshore in Washington, Oregon and Northern California, according to a September 2003 report by National Petroleum Council, the advisory committee to the U.S. Department of Energy. Most were drilled in the 1960s and show the presence of natural gas, but how much is unknown. Reach reporter Paris Achen at 776-4496 or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Distance Education Computer Security Ztech Media Hosting Sports Equipment Student Loans Online Pharmacy tcg student loan consolidation Online Casino Reviews Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Discount Hotel Reservations Southern Oregon Loans Online Casino News Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Salvia Divinorum Online Casino Fundraisers Advertisement s