Obama oil-drilling restrictions would not preempt Schwarzenegger proposal

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A spokesman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said new oil drilling restrictions laid out by the Obama administration would not affect the governor’s plan to resume limited oil drilling off the coast of Santa Barbara County.

Schwarzenegger has proposed resuming offshore drilling for one project known as Tranquillon Ridge. The issue stalled in the state Assembly last year after securing bipartisan support in the Senate.

Aaron McLear, a spokesman for the governor, said the president’s decision to tighten offshore drilling rules would have ‘no impact on T-Ridge,’ as the project is commonly known. Schwarzenegger has estimated that the proposal could bring in more than $100 million annually for the state general fund over the next 14 years.

-- Anthony York