Category Archives: Offshore

Apex court seeks details about PTI leader Jahangir Tareens offshore company

PTI General Secretary Jahangir Tareen. PHOTO: APP/File

ISLAMABAD:The Supreme Court cannot disqualify any parliamentarian on mere presumptions, Chief Justice of Supreme Court Mian Saqib Nisar observed on Wednesday.

The three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by the chief justice himself, took up PML-N leader Hanif Abbasis case, seeking disqualification of PTIs general secretary Jahangir Khan Tareen.

The bench also directed Tareens counsel to supply details regarding his clients offshore company, including details regarding creation and interest in the Trust, any receipt transmitted by the Trust, creation of the offshore company, names of the owners of the company or owners of the title of the company, legal and beneficial owner of the company, the quantum of assets the company created abroad and how much amount was sent from Pakistan for creating the company.

How do we apply Article 62, judge asks Imrans counsel

However, the court observed that the money was transferred via banking channels and Tareen paid taxes. It also questioned how it could be established that Jehangir Tareen is the beneficial owner of the company.

Hanif Abbasis lawyer Azid Nafees argued that Jehangir Tareen had admitted in an interview that he had offshore assets, but did not declare them in his nomination papers.

In response, the bench said Jehangir Tareen might have accepted that there was an offshore company, but it was in the name of his children and he had nothing to do with it and he is just the settler of Trust.

The counsel said Tareen admitted that his company was named Shinny Limited and owned a flat in London which he acquired after selling his property in Canada.

However, Tareens lawyer Sikandar Bashir told the bench that the petitioner, instead of raising such questions, should himself prove the veracity of his allegations because he had levelled them in the first place. He also contended that the petitioner had no legal cause to file the case against his client and that they were ready to reply all queries on the question of the offshore company.

Azid Nafees maintained that Tareens children were acting as his proxy.

SC to hear petitions against Imran, Tareen on May 13

The counsel said Jehangir Tareen also gave and received huge amounts as gift from his children.

In response, the bench remarked there was nothing illegal if the father was giving or receiving funds from his children.

It also pointed out that Tareen received Rs87,500,000 in 2010 and Rs69,750,000 in 2015 from his children, while gifted Rs1.4 billion to his children from 2010 to 2015 according to his income tax and wealth tax returns.

Azid also argued that in the Panama case this was the manner of the acquisition of property which was the main issue and the source of the money and for this, the Joint Investigation Team had been constituted to probe it. Justice Umar Atta Bandial remarked that in that case, the existence of foreign assets was admitted.

Disqualification: SC issues notices to Imran, Tareen

Azid said in this case Jehangir also admitted that he had an offshore company and owned assets and he had sent money abroad to his children and they invested the same in the company.

He alleged that Tareens investment had come from children in the shape of gift. He said Jehangir became the public officeholder in 2002 and has since been giving gift to his children.

Regarding commission of offence in the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, the counsel contended that by depositing gains and fine Tareen had accepted his culpability in the offence and he should be disqualified.

He said under Section 25 of the National Accountability Ordinance 1999, the accused returned the money in plea bargain. He said that the Supreme Court in Dr Mubashir Hassan case declared that even if the accused returned the money in such a plea bargain, he or she would still be considered an accused.

However, the bench observed that every member of Parliament who was served a notice by the SECP could not be disqualified just because he or she had been served a notice. It also wondered if all parliamentarians could be directly disqualified under Article 184(3) of the Constitution. It also wondered if the SC could adjudicate such matters in the presence of other forums.

The case was later adjourned until today (Thursday).

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Offshore assets: Conjecture not enough to disqualify MPs: Supreme Court - The Express Tribune

Exclusive Hundreds of IT roles at the BBC are to be offshored to cheaper wage locations, under a 560m contract renewal coming into force with its incumbent outsourcing giant Atos.

In a conference call with 300 staff - heard by The Register - Atos bosses said the new Aurora IT contract model will involve a "significant amount of offshoring and new tooling".

The workers were warned they will be pushed into an "availability pool", where some may be redeployed to another role within the company.

But only a fraction are expected to be retained on the BBC account, with most of those local roles to be exported to Atos centres in Poland and India, sources told us.

The vast majority of the Infrastructure and Data Management team and the professional services team (B&PS) will be relocated, staff were warned, but the media practice team and service desk will continue to operate from their current locations.

In total, around 400 Atos staff have worked on Auntie's tech support agreement, and may have done so for the past decade when the agreement was first reached. The renewal was agreed in May.

Last week James Purnell, BBC director of Radio and Education, told presenter Kirsty Walk on Newsnight (at 5:15 on this video) the 75m expected to be saved from the IT programme with Atos could help address the gender pay gap exposed after the Beeb revealed the salaries of stars earning more than 150,000.

On the briefing call, staff were told that a large mix of offshore versus onshore was necessary in order for Atos to win the bid against Fujitsu and CSC.

Employees were also told the new IT model is supposed to begin in October this year, however, those plans are "subject to change" with an overhaul done "in a more staged manner" rather than a "big bang" approach.

"The original plan was to deliver significant milestones and key deliverables in October. That is still the plan of record, but we are re-baselining some of those activities," staff were told.

One staffer told The Register that although the company was not making employees redundant, there was some uncertainty as to what would happen if they remain in the "availability pool" for too long.

The new Aurora IT programme, supposedly a "tower contract", will replace the original 2.3bn deal the BBC signed with Siemens back in 2004, which was transferred to Atos when it acquired Siemens' Solutions and Services unit in 2010.

Aurora was scheduled to begin in 2015, but the existing contract with Atos had been extended for another two years at a cost of 285m.

In addition to Atos, the other main supplier to win a place on Aurora is BT, which will pocket 100m over the next seven years to supply its internal network.

El Reg asked the BBC and Atos about the changes.

A BBC spokesman said the structure of the outsourcing arrangement was up to Atos in terms of how it chooses to provide services under the shiny new model. He said:

"As planned, these services will be provided to us by Atos from October."

Atos didn't directly answer the points we raised. A mouthpiece said it was in the "very early stages" of the new contract with the license-fee-payer-funded broadcaster.

"We look forward to delivering the new service which will provide a fantastic end user experience taking advantage of new technologies, whilst also providing significant cost savings."

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Take that, gender pay gap! Atos to offshore hundreds of BBC roles - The Register

about 16 hours ago Updated: about 14 hours ago

Allied Irish Bank: no longer plans to offshore roles in its IT operations unit, where 129 staff were outsourced to Wipro more than two years ago. Photograph: Paul McErlane

AIB has changed its mind on offshoring certain IT functions to India as part of its five-year outsourcing arrangement with Wipro. It is understood that the bank decided that such a move was too risky in the current environment.

The bank confirmed to The Irish Times it no longer planned to offshore roles in its IT Operations unit, where 129 staff were outsourced to Wipro more than two years ago.

In a statement, the bank said: On an ongoing basis we review our IT operating model to ensure we are delivering to our changing customer needs. In 2015, AIB outsourced some IT operations to multiple partners, including Wipro.

As part of our agreement with Wipro, we recently considered offshoring a small number of IT operations roles. Following an evaluation, AIB has decided not to offshore these particular roles at this point in time.

Informed sources suggested that some 100 roles had been earmarked by Wipro for India but the bank put the figure at about 30.

AIB is believed to have spent a large sum of money on implementing the outsourcing arrangement, with EY engaged as consultants on the project.

The outsourcing plan was originally conceived during David Duffys time as chief executive. Since then, AIB has returned to sustained profitability, paid a dividend to shareholders, and regained a main stock market listing in Dublin and London.

The transfer of roles to India would also have resulted in a number of long-serving staff, who moved from AIB to Wipro in 2015, being offered redundancy packages. The banks change of heart means those offers are now off the table.

The Financial Services Union welcomed the retention of the jobs in Ireland.

The FSU was advised on Monday of the decision by AIB to direct Wipro to retain jobs in Ireland that had been earmarked for offshoring to India, its general secretary Larry Broderick said. This is welcome news and provides job security to staff in the ITO section of Wipro who carry out work for AIB.

This development strengthens the unions view that we need a strategic approach to banking services in Ireland that includes the issue of outsourcing and offshoring technical support and other functions. This is important for employment in the sector and also for customer confidence and security.

In addition, Mr Broderick said AIB had advised the union that a review of the work that Wipros application, development and maintenance section undertakes for AIB was under way. We expect clarification on this in the coming months, he said.

It is understood that about 100 roles are involved in this area, with 28 of them already offshored.

Founded in India in 1945, Wipro is a listed company specialising in global IT, consulting and business process services. Its website says it has a dedicated workforce of more than 170,000 staff.

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AIB scraps plans to offshore IT roles to India - Irish Times

Who would have thought? Shopping for the best Kyrie Irving trade odds apparently is a thing.

In the wake of last week's report of Irving having the Miami Heat among his preferred relocation destinations, the BetDSI.eu offshore book put the Heat third in that race, at 5 1/2-to-1 odds.

As the saga of the disgruntled Cleveland Cavaliers guard continues to play out, Bovada,lv installed their own odds Tuesday, with the Heat at 20-to-1 in their offshore offerings.

Ira Winderman

July 26, 2017

Q: I find it hilarious that so many sports writers are saying that Pat Riley has lost his touch. Pat was a winner (loyal team player) in high school, in college, and in the NBA. He was a champion in the NBA as a player, as an assistant coach, as a coach, and as an executive. He's...

July 26, 2017

Q: I find it hilarious that so many sports writers are saying that Pat Riley has lost his touch. Pat was a winner (loyal team player) in high school, in college, and in the NBA. He was a champion in the NBA as a player, as an assistant coach, as a coach, and as an executive. He's...

The proposition, according to Bovada:

What team will Kyrie Irving play for in Game 1 or the 2017-2018 NBA Season?

Cleveland Cavaliers 1/1

New York Knick 3/1

Phoenix Suns 5/1

Boston Celtics 7/1

Denver Nuggets 9/1

Minnesota Timberwolves 12/1

San Antonio Spurs 14/1

Miami Heat 20/1

Milwaukee Bucks 25/1

Atlanta Hawks 33/1

Over the weekend, BetDSI.eu, offered this proposition:

Which team will Kyrie Irving be traded to?

New York Knicks +350

San Antonio Spurs +400

Miami Heat +550

Minnesota Timberwolves +700

Not Traded Before 2017-18 Regular Season Starts +1000

Field (all other NBA teams) +200

Miami Heat presidentPat Riley on the idea of playing positionless basketball

Miami Heat presidentPat Riley on the idea of playing positionless basketball

Miami Heat presidentPat Riley on the idea of playing positionless basketball

Miami Heat presidentPat Riley on the idea of playing positionless basketball

Bam Adebayo on his music choices.

Bam Adebayo on his music choices.

Miami Heat president Pat Riley talks about the potential ofJustise Winslow starting this upcoming season

Miami Heat president Pat Riley talks about the potential ofJustise Winslow starting this upcoming season

Chris Quinn on the Heat's summer-league experience.

Chris Quinn on the Heat's summer-league experience.

Miami Heat PresidentPat Riley on retaining players such as Dion Waiters and Wayne Ellington

Miami Heat PresidentPat Riley on retaining players such as Dion Waiters and Wayne Ellington

iwinderman@sunsentinel.com. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat or facebook.com/ira.winderman

For daily Heat mailbag go to sun-sentinel.com/askira

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Offshore books continue to post Kyrie Irving trade odds (latest has Miami Heat at 20-1) - Sun Sentinel

DELAWARE -Both Delaware Democratic senators have sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Commerce to oppose the issuance of five permits that would plan for seismic surveys off of Delaware's coast.

Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons senta letter to secretary Wilbur Ross asking to decline the permits submitted to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for companies planning to conduct seismic surveys along the Atlantic outer continental shelf.

Seismic survey operations are used to map underground oil and gas deposits beneath the ocean floor.

Tom Carper is also thetop Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee.

The permit requests come after President Donald Trumps April executive order instructing the Department of the Interior to review and potentially revise the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program.

The program prohibits offshore drilling along the Atlantic Coast through 2022, potentially opening Arctic waters and parts of the Atlantic Ocean to increased oil and gas drilling.

Included in the email the senators wrote,Our opposition reflects the profound concern of our coastal communities to the use of seismic testing air guns and their unanimous opposition to it, as reflected in city council resolutions from the Delaware communities of Bethany Beach, Dewey Beach, Fenwick Island, Lewes, Milton, Rehoboth Beach and South Bethany. Their opposition has been amplified by a letter sent by over 40 state and local elected officials from Delaware to the Department of the Interior inAugust 2016in opposition to proposed seismic surveys. Elected officials from coastal communities throughout the Atlantic seaboard have added their voices to this chorus of concern.

They continued,Their concerns are well-founded. While offshore oil and gas development could present economic benefit in selected areas along the coast, these areas are already the beneficiaries of greater economic benefits derived from and contingent on a healthy, vital and sustainable ocean environment off their shores. Clean coastal waters and the ocean ecosystems they support draw millions of coastal visitors and billions of dollars invested in coastal recreation and coastal communities. These communities do not take lightly the prospect of compromising those values, which, with care, will continue to support these communities.

The full text of the letter to Secretary Ross can be found below.

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Delaware Senators Oppose Offshore Oil Drilling Survey Permits - WBOC TV 16

HOUSTON (Reuters) - The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), the largest privately owned crude terminal in the United States, is pursuing contracts to export crude from its U.S. Gulf Coast facility, the company said on Monday.

Until now, LOOP has taken imported oil at the facility and the new services would be its first for exports. The services could be available by early 2018, LOOP said.

The facility would have capacity to load Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs), the largest oil tankers, which can ship some 2 million barrels of oil.

The new service would provide connectivity from LOOP's Clovelly Hub in Louisiana to its deepwater port 17 miles (27 km) offshore in Port Fourchon, Louisiana.

To make the facility export capable, LOOP would utilize its existing configuration with minor modifications, the company said.

The United States lifted its ban on exporting domestic oil in December 2015, sparking a surge of exports from terminals along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Occidental Petroleum Corp's Ingleside Energy Center near Corpus Christi this year became the first facility along the U.S. Gulf Coast to receive a VLCC.

Reporting by Liz Hampton; Editing by James Dalgleish and Lisa Shumaker

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Louisiana Offshore Oil Port seeks to export crude by early 2018 - Reuters

Jordan Blum, Houston Chronicle

McDermott benefits from slow offshore growth

Houston offshore engineering company McDermott International touted slow offshore growth that helped push its revenues up by 12 percent.

McDermott's quarterly revenues jumped from $707 million a year ago to $789 million in the second quarter, while its small net income increased from $20.7 million to $36.4 million.

The offshore sector isn't booming by any means like West Texas shale plays, but it at least seems to have bottomed out. The deepwater Gulf of Mexico isn't growing much, but McDermott touted its shallow water growth in the Middle East, especially with Saudi Arabia, as well as its liquefied natural gas projects offshore of Australia.

"Strong project execution and higher activity led McDermott to another successful quarter, with increased profitability and free cash flow generation," said McDermott President and CEO David Dickson.

It may sound like a street address, but McDermott is increasingly emphasizing its new "One McDermott Way" strategy as it focuses on cutting costs through consistency and completely projects through more standardized processes.

Although activity in the Gulf of Mexico is low, McDermott is working on one new project with New York-based Hess Corp. to expand its existing Penn State project using subsea tiebacks to extend to new wells.

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McDermott benefits from slow offshore growth - Chron.com

Offshore wind is all the rage right now, competing without subsidies and floating into deeper waters with new foundation designs.

For all its promise, however, offshore wind remains mostly a European affair, with WindEurope data showing more than 12.6 gigawatts of capacity installed across 81 projects in 10 countries at the end of 2016. The picture is beginning to change, however.

Nations from Australia to India are reported to be harboring offshore wind plans. Denmark's MAKE Consulting, a wind consulting group owned by GTM's parent company, expects more than 10 gigawatts of yearly offshore wind projects around the world by 2026.

Between 2017 and 2026, Asia will be nearly tied with Europe in new offshore wind capacity development, according to MAKE.

Feng Zhao, a Copenhagen-based senior director at FTI Consulting, agrees that Asia is the place to look for new activity that can rival Europe.

Here are his choices for the top five emerging markets in offshore wind.

As with onshore, China is quietly racing ahead in offshore wind deployment. The country had installed more than 1.6 gigawatts of offshore capacity at the end of 2016 and should end up with around 900 megawatts more by the end of the year.

Next year, it is due to pass 1 gigawatt of installations per year as part of a five-year plan to have 5 gigawatts grid-connected by 2020, plus another 10 gigawatts under construction.

Between 2017 and 2026, China is on target to install 13 gigawatts, bringing its total capacity to nearly 10 times todays level. In the medium term, said Zhao, Its the only market that can compete with the U.K. and Germany in terms of market size.

Its not an easy one for foreign vendors to crack, though, with the lions share of projects going to Chinese original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) such as Goldwind.

Taiwans offshore aspirations made headlines this year when the country declared a target of 3 gigawatts of capacity to be built by 2025.

The level is paltry compared to what is happening in neighboring China, but for leading OEMs, the big attraction is that Taiwan is an open market with no incumbent players to dominate when it comes to winning contracts. FTI Consulting estimates that growth in the market will ramp up slowly.

Today there are only two offshore turbines operating in the country, and two projects totaling 320 megawatts are due to be in place by 2020. FTI Consulting forecasts close to 2.6 gigawatts, less than the government target, to be completed by 2026.

Beyond that, it remains to be seen if the country will achieve an ambitious 2030 target of 4 gigawatts, which is a third higher than the original plan set out by Taiwans Ministry of Economic Affairs in 2013.

Much has been said about Japans offshore wind ambitions. But the reality on the ground (or rather, in the sea) is well below what might have been expected from a country that has been pursuing offshore wind since 2010.

Only 61 megawatts of capacity had been installed by the end of 2016, and for the next two years, we dont expect any utility-scale offshore wind projects to [come] on-line, said Zhao.

However, following am update to the country's Port and Harbor Law which opens previously restricted port areas to offshore wind, two projects have won auctions.

One is a 229-megawatt near-shore plant being built by utility company Kyuden Mirai at Hibikinada, and the other is a 93.6-megawatt project that has been picked up by a consortium including Hitachi Windpower after being dropped by Marubeni Corporation in January.

A further 1.3 gigawatts of projects are waiting to go through environmental impact assessments. But in Japan, gaining environmental permits takes four years, Zhao said.

We forecast 1.3 gigawatts to be built in the next 10 years, despite nearly 2.5 gigawatts currently under planning.

For all its industrial might and maritime muscle, South Korea has so far only mustered a couple of offshore wind prototypes and a single demonstration project, totaling 35 megawatts.

Only one plant, 96.8 megawatts on a tidal flat in Saemangeum, is expected to be built in the next two years.

However, the market is worthy of attention. Last month, South Korea announced a move away from coal and nuclear power. This should boost renewables, including offshore wind.

It is technically possible to bring 1 gigawatt on-line between 2017 and 2026, following the new president's political commitment on the country's transition to renewables, said Zhao.

The U.S. certainly has an emerging offshore wind market, but it's unclear how promising it is. Last year saw 30 megawatts installed -- Americas first offshore wind project.

But no offshore wind turbines are expected to be installed this year, and only two Department of Energy-sponsored projects, totaling 32.7 megawatts, and one 12-megawatt test project, are likely to be built before 2020.

Construction of utility-scale projects is not expected to begin until around 2021 or 2022. And although the U.S. could be adding up to 800 megawatts of capacity per year by 2025 or 2026, a lot of things could change that outlook in the meantime.

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The Top 5 Emerging Markets for Offshore Wind - Greentech Media

The North Carolina governor's office -- once the leading force behind the push to open the Southeast coast to offshore oil and gas exploration and drilling -- has reversed course under new leadership and amid dramatic political shifts on the issue.

Gov. Roy Cooper (D) held a press conference this week on a barrier island along the Crystal Coast, a popular North Carolina tourist spot, to announce that his Department of Environmental Quality would submit formal comments to the Trump administration opposing permits allowing seismic testing for offshore oil and gas reserves. The deadline for comments was recently extended to July 21.

"It's clear that opening North Carolina's coast to oil and gas exploration and drilling would bring unacceptable risks to our economy, our environment, and our coastal communities -- and for little potential gain," Cooper said in his statement, pointing to concerns about a political climate focused on deregulation. "As governor, I'm here to speak out and take action against it. I can sum it up in four words: not off our coast."

Cooper was joined at the event at Fort Macon State Park's visitor center by coastal business owners and community leaders -- part of a groundswell of local opposition to offshore oil and gas development.

The Carolinas and Virginia had been targeted for offshore drilling in a proposal considered and rejected by the Obama administration, but the Trump administration wants to reopen the matter and is now considering permits for seismic testing in an area stretching from Delaware to Florida. The practice involves the intensive use of extremely loud airguns and can injure marine life and harm fisheries.

To date, 127 East Coast municipalities -- 32 in North Carolina alone -- have passed resolutions opposing Atlantic testing and/or drilling because of the environmental and economic risks to a region reliant on tourism and fishing. Also taking public stances against it are 14 U.S. senators led by Bill Nelson (D) of Florida and over 100 U.S. representatives from both major parties, including Republican lawmakers Walter Jones of North Carolina, Mark Sanford of South Carolina and Ron DeSantis, Bill Posey and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida.

Atlantic drilling is also widely opposed by coastal business interests. More than 41,000 businesses and over a half-million commercial fishing families recently sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke that called offshore oil and gas activities "fundamentally at odds with our coastal economies and our way of life."

Shifting Politics

Cooper's July 20 announcement marks a 180-degree policy turn on offshore drilling for the North Carolina executive branch. The position of a governor is one of the primary factors the Interior Department considers in deciding whether to allow energy development off a state's coast.

"Presidents have long recognized that states' interests matter in whether coasts should be opened to risky offshore drilling," said Sierra Weaver of the Southern Environmental Law Center, which opposes offshore drilling and seismic testing. "North Carolina has spoken. It's time for Washington to listen."

Cooper's predecessor, Republican Pat McCrory, was a key leader in the effort to open the Atlantic to oil and gas interests in his role as chair of the Outer Continental Shelf Governors Coalition. A secretive group with close industry ties, the coalition was founded in the aftermath of the 2010 BP disaster to lobby the federal government to revive and expand offshore drilling. In McCrory it got a former Duke Energy executive and spokesperson for Americans for Prosperity, the conservative advocacy group founded by the Koch oil and gas barons.

At the time McCrory became chair of the coalition in 2014, it included two other governors of Southeastern states -- Nikki Haley (R) of South Carolina and Terry McAuliffe (D) of Virginia. But McCrory lost last year to Cooper, the former attorney general and state lawmaker who was endorsed by the N.C. League of Conservation Voters for his record on environmental and public health issues.

Meanwhile, President Trump appointed Haley to serve as his ambassador to the United Nations. Her successor, Henry McMaster (R), opposed Atlantic drilling as lieutenant governor and came out against seismic testing last month while speaking to the regional Chamber of Commerce in Beaufort, South Carolina. The mayor and council of that historic city and tourist center passed a resolution against seismic testing and offshore drilling in 2015.

That leaves McAuliffe as the lone Southeastern coastal representative in the Governors Coalition, whose other current members are the Gulf states' Kay Ivey of Alabama, Phil Bryant of Mississippi and Greg Abbott of Texas, all Republicans, along with Alaska's Bill Walker, an independent. The group's chair, Republican Paul LePage of Maine, is its only other East Coast governor besides McAuliffe, who has said he "never had a problem" with seismic testing but would support drilling off Virginia's coast only if the federal government shared royalties with the state. McAuliffe's office did not respond to Facing South's request for comment.

In Virginia, the political pressure to block offshore development has not been as strong in as in the Carolinas. Of the 127 municipalities that have passed resolutions against it, only five are in Virginia. But even there, momentum continues to build: Last week, the Norfolk city council unanimously passed a resolution opposing both offshore drilling and seismic testing, citing its potential disruption of marine life and threats to fisheries and protective wetlands. A month earlier, the Virginia Beach city council also voted to oppose offshore drilling, almost two years after it originally voted to take a neutral stance on the issue.

"Our tourism numbers have gone north in the last eight years," Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms said. "I would say that I don't want to risk that."

Continued here:

On Offshore Drilling, Virginia's Governor Now Stands Alone in the Southeast - Truth-Out

Not a pretty picture. Clean up workers place shovels of oil-laden sand in bags while a larger group of workers begin clean up operations at Refugio State Beach, site of an oil spill, north of Goleta, Calif., Wednesday, May 20, 2015. Due to spills like these, many Californians are concerned about the potential impact of increased offshore drilling. (AP Photo/Michael A. Mariant)

Legislators, watermen and women, surf industry moguls, and environmental advocates across the state of California are increasingly concerned that the Trump Administrations plan to dismantle protections against offshore drilling seriously threatens the states coast. The oil industry has reportedly spent $122 million since 2011 to influence policy in California. In an effort to unify and ramp up opposition efforts, the Blue Business Council, a project of the California Coastkeeper Alliance, recently hosted a call-in briefing, organized by Coastkeeper Alliance executive director Sara Aminzadeh, wherein members of the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermans Associations, and the Outdoor Industry Association could hear from Ocean Foundation Senior Fellow Richard Charter, U.S. Congressman Jared Huffman (D) and California State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D) about legislative efforts to protect the coast.

Charter, who was integral in efforts to protect the California coast during the Carter administration, shared background knowledge on Trumps executive order, important strategies to combat it, and key reasons why the ocean requires our attention.

Invoking his inner Marlon Brando, Charter suggested that given oil companies sole focus on their bottom lines, presenting them with an offer they cant refuse might be the only way to satiate them. In other words, present them with a more lucrative choice than drilling off the California coast.

In his day, said Charter, the Irvine Company successfully thwarted natural gas and oil tycoons from Orange County by arguing that the development of the coast for housing would be more lucrative than drilling offshore. Of course, many environmental activists still see this as exploitative of the coast.

While small, the surf industry has the ability to make a bigger impact,said Charter. For example, the paddle out for Jack ONeill in Santa Cruz was an event that drew a significant amount of press. A similar display of watermen and women united, paddling for what they believe in would likely have a huge impact, said Charter.

Images in the public mind are stimulating and remind people how much they love the ocean, Charter said. Memories of those experiences are motivators for the general public that now is confronted with an assault on the environment from all directions.

Congressman Huffman encouraged grassroots action through the formation of alliances, staying vocal and engaged, and also expressed the importance of the legislative fight as many victories have too often required litigation.

Congress and the American people need to know that Californians will not stand for offshore drilling and other threats to our coast, said Huffman.

California State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson explained that shes proposed several bills in the Legislature to keep would-be offshore drilling at bay. These bills are as follows:

SB188:Stops the State Lands Commission from issuing new leases for oil drilling across state waters.

The bill is key not only to signaling to the Trump Administration that California will not accept any new oil drilling, but will raise the cost of new development to make the oil industry think twice with following through with its efforts, Jackson said.

SB44:Dedicate state funds, which are collected from the oil and gas industry, to the cleaning and remediating of beaches and coastlines that have been affected by oil wells.

SB465:This bill ensures DOGGR (Department of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources) is effectively regulating the efforts of the oil and gas industry. It will require scientific experts to be involved in the committee that has been previously dominated by oil and gas interest groups. This committee advises DOGGR on its activities that include environmental justice and air and water quality.

The briefing serves as further proof that Californians are galvanized to stand up for the coast and do what they can to protect it.

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CA Legislators, Activists, and Businesses Are Fighting to Protect the Coast from Offshore Drilling - TheInertia.com