I’d bet there is a *lot* of oil off the coast of California.
From time-to-time you’ll hear a news blip about a small oil ‘spill’ that can’t be traced back to a tanker. It’s probably leaking up from the sea floor.
I recall landing in Santa Barbara one late afternoon and as we made our approach over the S.B. Channel the low sun highlighted a huge oil slick from natural seepage.
At the Mandalay Beach Resort Hotel near the Channel Islands at Oxnard, there are washing stations on the beach so people can remove oil and tar from their bare feet. Ever hear of Pismo Beach where the famous Pismo clams are found? "Pismo" is the Chumash Indian name for the little pellets of oil tar that wash ashore all along California's Central Coast. I've found them as far north as Hearst Castle.
California's rich elitists control most of that prime beach real estate. The Hollywood crowd runs Montecito, the ultra-wealthy enclave just south of Santa Barbara. Super-rich elitists from all over are drawn to Santa Barbara for its beauty and elitist-friendly ambiance. It considers itself the birthplace of the militant Green movement (UC Santa Barbara is a hotbed of Green-Marxist activity, and a professor there helped write the Global Warming mythology-propaganda for the IPCC).
These people are rich, powerful, Left-Socialist and absolutely dedicated to the notion that there will never be any further oil drilling in the S.B. Channel. They campaign on "green" issues but they're mostly worried that the ocean views from their multi-million dollar estates will be spoiled by the sight of drilling platforms.