I’m sick of Measure G! Who’s with me?
Come on. I know you all are.
Every single one of you has received a million gazillion mailers, sponsored Facebook posts, Google ads, television ads, and phone calls about that ballot measure. It’s all part of the almost $8.15 million that’s been spent to fight over a ban on fracking and new oil and gas wells in the unincorporated parts of SLO County. I’ll give you one guess as to who’s put up the lion’s share of those dollars.
Yep. Big Oil (Chevron!)—and Medium Oil (California Resources Corporation) and Small-ish Oil (Sentinel Peak Resources) have cobbled together a measly $7.9 million. WTF oil companies? That’s all the Arroyo Grande Oil Field is worth to you? I, for one, feel shafted. I was expecting a continuous banner that covered the fields alongside Highway 101 from San Miguel to Nipomo on both sides. Now, what do I have to look forward to? Rolling hills, oak trees, and vineyards. Boring!
Don’t worry, though. There’s still plenty of money in the bank to do other things with until Nov. 6. With $2.2 million still unspent, you can expect the No on G folks to continue filling your mailbox with paper you can do craft projects on.
Meanwhile, the Yes on G peeps managed to triple their donations in the past month. Bringing its grand total to a little less than $250,000 (that’s with in-kind donations). Wow liberals, that’s sooo generous.
You know what I’m really going to miss about this campaign? Charles Varni. The things he says about Big Oil are amazing. I just love the rhetoric, man. It’s what makes campaigns so fun for us over here at New Times!
The mailers, Varni said, are the clearest symbol of the lengths Big Oil will go to achieve their goal. These slate mailers he’s referring to depict a no vote on Measure G as part of the “Feel the Bern” progressive platform! Well now! Any Bernie Sanders progressive in their right mind should realize that fracking and new oil wells in their backyards are not on the progressive agenda.
“To trick people into voting no on G is just indicative of a real lack of moral and ethical grounding,” Varni said.
Eeee. Umm. I can think of several things that are way worse tricks than paying a slate mailing company to add something to a “voter guide.”
Remember that whole thing where Exxon knew about climate change and was actively studying the effects of increased carbon in the atmosphere from fossil fuels way before it became mainstream thought? And then a Harvard Study came out saying that Exxon actively worked to mislead people about climate change. Now, that’s a dirty trick.
Not that the whole mailer thing is honest or anything, though. But Varni, come on, everybody‘s doing it. All they have to do is pay a slate mailer company such as Voter Guide Slate Cards. Remember the June primary? It feels like forever ago. Lynn Compton, then the 4th District Supervisor incumbent and candidate, showed up on a Democratic Voter Guide mailed out by that very same company to Nipomo Democrats, who promptly flipped out similarly to the way in which Yes on G folks are moaning and wailing.
But, if you could—and if you had thought about it first—Yes on G could and probably would have absolutely done the same thing. Progressive darling SLO Mayor Heidi Harmon posted a Facebook video speaking out against “some faked-up flyer that’s going around. It says that I am against Measure G and that is baloney.”
Hmm, interesting. “This is the exact kind of manipulative behavior we would expect from the most dangerous industry in the world, the fossil fuel industry,” she added.
However, she hadn’t actually seen the flyer yet. She had just heard about the flyer. Well, I’ve seen some slate mailers with her name on them. At least two. A “Republican Voter Guide” and a “Democratic Voter Guide,” both mailed out by that Voter Guide Slate Cards company. And she’s on both with … drum roll please … No on Measure G! WTF? That’s so deceptive. How dare they add her name to that slate mailer!
But wait. New Times looked up some campaign finance type things. You know, the boring detail-oriented stuff that we don’t get paid the big bucks to do, and it looks like the San Luis Obispo County Progressives Democrat Club paid that slate card company, which put her on multiple mailers.
Harmon told New Times that she knows nothing about it.
The slate mailer company doesn’t care. They just want that sweet campaign money.
Aww geez, guys. My self-righteous feelings about manipulative behavior from Big Oil (those bastards!) are all confused. Who should I be mad at? Who’s deceptive, manipulative, and up to dirty tricks?
Heidi’s not a Republican. So why is she on that voter guide that was mailed out? No on G is not a progressive or Democratic platform, so why is it on those mailers? Welp, guys. I hate to break it to you, but politics is all about money and manipulation. Dirty tricks are for politicians and election campaigns.
If you haven’t figured that out by now, go crawl back behind that computer screen you’ve been yelling at for the last two years. Δ
The Shredder yells at computer screens all the time, but knows how to sniff out dirty tricksters. Send comments to shredder@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in San Luis Obispo County’s News and Entertainment Weekly.
I am with you La Shredda. Super tired of the daily bombardment of oily lies by the slippery tongued merchants of Big Fossil propaganda. I might miss the early morning paper read blood boil which I at first mistook for a heavy caffeine rush and then realized it had something to do with having our baby Measure G subjected to such torment, abuse, and degradation. Big, lying, world class bully Baron Von Fossil, fueled with Daddy’s unending deep pockets, attacks our golden nature girl and truth speaker, as if she is some sort of tawdry siren seeking to deliver us into Putin’s arms.
What the Baron forgets is little Measure G has 20,473 parents who bore her (and an extended family of thousands more) and a whole lot of them are She-Bear moms who do not take well to their daughter being politically abused. Neither do the He-Bear dads. These Davids and Davinas are marching to a song of higher purpose: protecting precious water resources; transitioning to a clean energy economy; and hopefully saving the world as we know it. Abusive Goliath will not block their way.
Most important, this big local family is all voting YES ON G.
And with that, I’m voting NO on G.
Just what we need…..oil derricks off the coast of Pismo, Shell Beach, Avilla beach, Cayucas, Morro Bay and Cambria. I don’t think so..I don’t care how many millions you throw at NO……Yes is the only vote that makes sense if you want to live on the central coast!
hmmm.. Jack, Measure G is about onshore production. Not sure what your source is on the offshore stuff.
Mr Shredder, I agree with you. Spin, hypocrisy, and outright lying have become the new norm. Its wearisome. I have received those false slate fliers from No on G. This feels real close to home. The oil companies wouldn’t need such tactics if their claims were honest. I’m voting yes on G because our water should be protected.
As usual, VOR fails to address in any substantive manner issues of groundwater use and contamination, greenhouse gas emissions, or global climate change. That’s because the opposition has nothing to offer other than more threats to groundwater, more greenhouse gases, and more climate change.
He is finally correct about something–Measure G does not impact offshore oil well expansion, only that on unincorporated land in the county. SLO citizens addressed the offshore issue in 1986 when they passed a ballot measure that banned any onshore infrastructure that supported offshore oil development. It is still the law and did for offshore oil what Measure G will do for onshore oil development–prevent its expansion and allow existing operations to continue.
Don’t be deceived by the opposition’s latest lies, only a YES VOTE ON G will ban fracking in our County.
There is a reason the opposition, including VOR, has refused for months to have any debate or public discussions of Measure G–they can’t control the dialogue or questions and know their lies can be easily exposed.
Hey Mr. Varni, there are about a dozen articles waiting for your response to our “discussions”, aka me fact checking you and pointing out your inability to provide technical support to your claims. Feel free to respond to any of those conversations that you magically keep disappearing from.
One: https://www.newtimesslo.com/sanluisobispo/…
Two: https://atowndailynews.com/letter-is-measu…
Three: https://www.newtimesslo.com/sanluisobispo/…
Four: https://pasoroblesdailynews.com/north-coun…
I could go on…
Measure G does nothing more than waste taxpayer dollars and stabilize our reliance on foreign oil imports. There’s nothing incorrect in either of those statements, but I’d love to see you try to “expose” the truth.
Again, Measure G addresses supply while doing nothing about the DEMAND. Therefore, we will continue to use just as much oil, it will just be imported rather than supplied domestically. We already import 56% of our oil from Saudi Arabia, Educador, Columbia, etc. and Measure G will make sure that number grows.
Do we export oil in CA Mr. Varni?
I’m voting NO on G.
The USA is now the biggest fossil fuel exporter in the world–making big profits for big oil. If big oil was concerned about energy independence it would: (1) not be exporting American fossil fuel and (2) be developing renewable energy sources.
VOR does not deal in facts. Tell us about your deceptive fake Democratic slate mailers; your daily lies about Measure G; your paid littering patrol illegally covering private and public property in our County with thousands of your campaign signs; the telephone calls from your campaign center telling citizens that if they dont want fracking to vote no on G.
It always takes more money to lie than tell the truth–ergo, you spend $8,000,000; we spend $230,000.
DONT BE DECEIVED. VOTE YES ON G TO BAN FRACKING
Ah yes, let’s talk about deception. I asked if CA exports oil and Mr. Varni responds with “the US exports fossil fuels”. That doesn’t answer the question, that’s called dodging a question. I guess I will have to answer it.
California DOES NOT export oil. Can you guess what CA did for oil demand in July of 2018? Here are the facts that Mr. Varni likes to ignore.
We (CA) import 60% of our oil. https://www.energy.ca.gov/almanac/petroleu…
We (CA) export 0% (yes that is ZERO percent) of our oil. See PADD 5, which is the west coast.
https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_sum_snd_a…
These are the facts, yet Mr. Varni wants everyone to believe we export oil in California. I’m not being deceptive, I’m laying out the facts, and the facts are, the more we limit or eliminate domestic production, the more reliant we are on importing oil from Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, Columbia, Iraq, etc. https://www.energy.ca.gov/almanac/petroleu…
On the mailers, signs, calls, etc. I have no control over that. I am not a part of the NO on G campaign. Just like you are not responsible for the vandalism of NO on G signs. I’m not going to sit here and blame you, Charles Varni, for tagging NO on G signs with “frack your mom” (really mature). I’m concerned about the issues and the facts, not playing blame games.
How does Measure G help us improve energy demands in California? Simple answer, it doesn’t.
How does Measure G make us more “green”? Simple answer, it doesn’t! Demand will be the exact same with or without Measure G.
Measure G is not a solution to anything, therefore I will vote NO on G.
You are a smart fellow VOC and if you were not so narrowly focused on maximizing profits for the fossil fuel giants and more concerned with the basic well-being of local citizens and the atmosphere and the earth then maybe you would be more open and compassionate.
After visiting the PADD5 data you refer to I find that, again, you have been clearly deceptive–using a common tactic of yours which is to cherry pick your data or information. The PADD data shows that, so far, in 2018 California has exported 2,283,000 barrels of oil and you chose one month, July, when there were no crude oil exports, and used it as evidence California does not export oil. You knew you were doing that. Making an untrue statement in order to deceive or manipulate, which by definition is a LIE.
You also left out that in 2018 California has exported 10,288,000 barrels of FINISHED petroleum products–gasoline, jet fuel, distillates, lubricants. It has also exported 10,000,000 barrels of natural gas and 12,000,000 barrels of liquified petroleum gas.
Your argument about the AGOF production keeping us energy independent is a joke. So far this year Big Oil has exported more than 35,000,000 million barrels of California oil products.
To quote you,”I’m not being deceptive” and “I am not a part of the No on G campaign.”
On the face of it, you are both.
If you think for y ourself and toss the mailers into the trash, they have no impact.
I don’t read or listen to political ads. It is simply a way to buy votes. Ignore them and vote for the candidates who don’t spend money trying to buy your vote. There is always someone new to the process who relies on a personal campaign you can support.
Getting lectured by Mr. Varni on compassion is a little ironic given his apathy for the 200+ hard working employees and contractors that make their living in SLO County oil fields. While they stand up and plead for their jobs, he responds by calling them liars. Compassion at its finest.
The fact that the coalition allows Mr. Varni to be their spokesperson make sense, as his inability to understand and digest these complex numbers (we are talking addition here) allows him to continue to make uninformed statements while not understanding what he is actually talking about. In regards to the data, I was using the most current data available. That’s not cherry picking, its called being relevant. I noticed you were having some challenges with the data (and math… like addition), so I’ll take the time to help here:
First, it is important to note that PADD 5 consists of the entire west coast. I specified that. More refined data is not available, but it is not correct to say the data is CA only, like Mr. Varni has done. https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.p…
In 2018, PADD 5 has exported 2.56 million barrels in 2018. PADD 5, NOT CA specifically. It’s comical because Mr. Varni couldn’t even do the simple addition to come to the right number.
Let’s talk about cherry picking data. Like not mentioning that we IMPORTED 254 MILLION BARRELS. PADD 5 imported 99 times more barrels than it exported. That’s the math, and it seems to support my statement that we are MAJOR importers, not exporters. Another way of viewing this data is averages. We imported 1,378,000 barrels per day and exported 14,000 barrels per day.
Mr. Varni’s attempts to make it seem like we are huge exporters are just silly.
The rest of Mr. Varni’s numbers are a joke, just like his analysis of them. What he claims are “exports” are not. Please see “Products Supplied” in the following link. It specifically states that the definition is “Approximately represents consumption of petroleum products”. Consumption means products that we used, not products that we exported.
https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/TblDefs/pet_c…
Mr. Varni pulled a bunch of numbers off of the “products supplied” page on the EIA website and misinterpreted the data. Big surprise. Products supplied does NOT mean products exported. It means products CREATED from all of the petroleum sources (domestic production + imports).
So yes, these products were created, but they were not exported as Mr. Varni suggests. https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/PET_CONS_PSUP…
In summary, PADD 5 imports 99 times more petroleum than it exports. Additionally, it is reasonable to assume the exports were from Alaska, as CA petroleum needs are significant and exporting makes no sense. The products that are created from all of our petroleum sources are refined and used, not exported.
Mr. Varni has continually twisted and/or completely misunderstood the data to meet his needs. He has no technical understanding of the topics that he is discussing, which has led to a deluge of misinformation from the Coalition.
Real data interpretation leads to real answers. The answer here is NO on G.
My math is correct, based on the source you gave, and your big defense is little more than a projection of your own duplicity onto others intentions. I caught you red-handed in your deceptions and thou doth protest too much.
Time for the voters to speak and lets discover how many see through your lies, manipulations, and deceit–the most shameful, money bloated, arrogance filled, and disrespectful campaign in SLO County history, brought to us by Chevron, Exxon, Shell, and others. Stooping to every dirty trick in the book. Plastering us with your omnipresent yard signs. Cramming the air waves with your $8 million in toxic ads.
The compassion of Measure G extends to our water, air, earth, economic well being, and all citizens of the County. The 80 oil industry jobs are not threatened. Measure G allows all existing oil extraction to continue and all maintenance to be performed.
Compassion is about protecting our well being, our atmosphere, our water, our planet. That’s why the majority of SLO county will be voting YES ON MEASURE G.
A translation of Mr. Varni’s post above reads: “I can’t argue any of the data you provided, so instead I’ll divert attention by blaming everything I couldn’t defend on big oil lies, extend some more speculative fallacies about how current oil production is a threat, and then just say I’m right without supplying ANYTHING to support my arguments. Then I’ll call the employees liars, again, and finish it up with a cliche from Shakespeare quote in an effort to really look like I’m witty, while I ironically do exactly what that cliche says.”
Mr. Varni was caught spinning the data. Notice how he refuses to address the facts? Not a single comment about “Products Supplied” because he knows that he misinterpreted the data. One definition and his entire argument went flying out the window. He also knows the “we export sooooo much” argument is about as strong as his technical understanding of oil fields. California is dependent on importing oil and Mr. Varni refuses to accept that reality because it does not fit his talking points.
I hate to break it to Mr. Varni, but he is nothing more than a “he-bear” puppet of the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), a group that has repeatedly attempted to shutdown petroleum production. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that Measure G is a copy and paste of Measure Z from Monterey County, and guess who was behind that one? That’s right, the CBD. Same backers, different county. Is that grassroots, or is that Mr. Varni being a pawn who is blinded by the allure of the “golden nature girl” (his words, not mine) the CBD danced in front of him?
He is right, it is time for the voters to speak. Vote NO on G and send the CBD packing.