Maldonado gets a pass

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It is not just environmentalists who can breathe a sigh of relief now that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has backed off his push for new oil drilling off the coast of Santa Barbara.

Life has also gotten less difficult for Abel Maldonado, the state’s new lieutenant governor.

Maldonado, a Republican who represented Santa Maria in the state Senate before Schwarzenegger appointed him to his new post, has few big responsibilities in his new job. But one of them is being a voting member of the state Lands Commission, which has jurisdiction over off-shore oil leases. The last time the three-member commission voted on the Santa Barbara proposal, it was rejected by a vote of 2 to 1. One of the commission members voting against was the previous lieutenant governor, John Garamendi. So Maldonado’s vote had the potential to put the project in motion.

That put Maldonado in a pickle. As a member of the Senate, he opposed the new drilling, reflecting the views of many of his coastal constituents. But he also is indebted to Schwarzenegger, who muscled through intense legislative opposition to install Maldonado as lieutenant governor.

Now, the pressure is off.

-- Marc Lifsher in Sacramento