West Coast governors: Clean up Pacific

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — West Coast governors Tuesday urged the federal government to keep new oil-drilling rigs out of their states' waters and to spend more money on programs to restore the health of the Pacific Ocean.

Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire and Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, both Democrats, joined California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, to reaffirm their opposition to opening undersea oil fields to new drilling, as part of an elaborate action plan for preserving coastal waters.

The 116-page document outlines ambitious goals for cleaning up coastal waters and beaches, restoring fisheries, preparing for rising sea levels and developing projects that harness energy from waves and tides.

The governors' plan, nearly two years in the making, was born of frustration from the federal government's not following the advice of two national commissions that detailed how to address such threats as overfishing, coastal development and polluted runoff.

The Joint Ocean Commission Initiative, whose members delivered reports in 2003 and 2004 and since slapped federal officials with C's and D's on annual report cards on their progress, lauded the West Coast governors for filling what it called a vacuum of leadership.

"Given the hardships faced by regional fisheries, along with growing threats from climate change and pollution, the time is now for full-throttle execution of the governors' directives," said Leon Panetta, co-chairman of the initiative.

The governors' plan calls for setting up a national ocean trust fund to support programs, including those to reduce runoff that has fed harmful algal blooms in coastal waters and littered beaches with garbage. It also calls for "opposing all new offshore oil and gas leasing, development and production" because they increase the risk of spills.

That pledge put West Coast leaders in direct opposition to President Bush and Republican presidential candidate John McCain, who have pushed recently to open new undersea fields to drilling.

Kulongoski suggested "harnessing the energy of waves and tides along the West Coast" as a clean, alternative energy that has shown some promise off Oregon.

Warner Chabot, a vice president of the Ocean Conservancy, said he was heartened by timelines for action in the governors' plan but warned that any success would depend on funding and the governors' vigilance.

"It's appropriate for them to act because the states have jurisdiction over the first three miles of the coast," he said. "The states have the most to gain financially and the most to lose."