Issue Areas: Water Quality and Watersheds Biodiversity and Endangered Species Environmental Health/ Environmental Justice Land Use and Open Space Protection Offshore Oil and Gas Public Access Case Docket			Offshore Oil and Gas The prehistoric geological forces that shaped the land and seascape of the Central Coast also left many areas with abundant oil and gas seeps. The world’s first offshore oil wells were drilled on the Central Coast off Summerland in 1896 (Sollen 1998). In fact, the blow out of an oil well in 1969 in the Santa Barbara Channel is often cited as the birth of the environmental movement. Past and current development of these oil and gas resources jeopardizes health and environmental quality from the exploration phase through development and processing of oil and gas products to their eventual combustion in automobiles, buildings and industrial processes. The goal of EDC’s work regarding offshore oil and gas development is to prevent risks and impacts from offshore oil and gas activities. Photo by Linda Krop