Numbers. I can't resist:
On Tuesday, the residents of Hermosa Beach are going to vote yet again on an oil and gas drilling initiative — whether to allow a contract with the energy company E&B Natural Resources Management to proceed despite a current drilling ban.
The contract, which could mean hundreds of millions of dollars for the local government, received final approval from the City Council in 1992, but it has been in limbo ever since. A vote to block the drilling would come at an unusual cost: $17.5 million in damages to the energy company, the equivalent of about half the annual general fund budget in this city of almost 20,000 people. ...
“It’s a little more than we probably should have paid,” Mayor Peter Tucker said, referring to the deal for potential damages. “But if it gets us out of this constant, constant oil issue we’ve had hanging over us for 30 years, I think it’s money well spent.” ...
An environmental-impact statement commissioned by Hermosa Beach listed nine potential areas of concern that it said the company would be unable to mitigate, including air quality, aesthetics and noise. ...
Supporters of the project say the fears voiced by opponents — declining property values, offensive odors and the potential for a spill that could spray fuel into the water, on the beach or over neighboring houses — are exaggerated. ...
The company anticipates that the drilling would produce 35 million barrels over the 34-year life of the project, producing a potential $500 million windfall for Hermosa. (The revenue projection was made when the price of oil was close to $100 a barrel; it is about half that now.) ...
The city has a surplus of close to $7 million that it has put aside to help pay the penalty. The rest would be paid in roughly $800,000 annual installments.
“An $800,000-a-year payment to preserve the quality of life and the special beach community that we have certainly seems worth it,” said Stacey Armato, one of the leaders of the anti-drilling effort.
via www.nytimes.com
Voting against oil would lead to a loss of between about $250 million to $500 million over 34 years. Using the midpoint, that is about $550 per person per year (undiscounted). Losing the $7 million surplus is $350 per person. The $800,000 a year payment is $40 per person per year.
So, the total cost of voting no is a one-time $350 payment and about $600 per person per year. Multiply by 2.5 to get the household costs.
