One of the most influential liberal leaders in the United States, California Gov. Jerry Brow, has come under scrutiny after a new investigation from the Associated Press.
Critics are alleging Brown misused public resources by directing state oil and gas regulators to research, map and report back on any mining and oil drilling potential and history at the Brown family’s private land in Northern California.
After a phone call from the governor and follow-up requests from his aides, senior staffers in the state’s oil and gas regulatory agency over at least two days produced a 51-page historical report and geological assessment, plus a personalized satellite-imaged geological and oil and gas drilling map for the area around Brown’s family ranchland near the town of Williams. The ranch is a 2,700-acre property, which has been in Brown’s family for more than a century.
Through the state’s open records law, the Associated Press obtained the research that state regulators carried out for Brown, and the emails among senior oil and gas regulators scrambling to fulfill the governor’s request.
Brown spokesman Evan Westrup declined to discuss the work for the governor, referring the AP to California’s Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources. That agency said the work was a legal and proper use of public resources — and no more than the general public would get. But oil industry experts said they could not recall a similar example of anyone getting that kind of state work done for private property.
Brown’s request points to the complex way that the governor, an internationally known advocate of renewable energy, approaches oil and gas issues in his own state. While spearheading ambitious programs to curb the use of climate-changing fossil fuels, Brown also has sought to spur oil production in California, the country’s No. 3 oil-producing state.
Nine days after Brown appointed Steve Bohlen to lead the state oil and gas regulatory division, the governor called him with his research request.
Brown wanted to find out about the “geology, past oil and gas activity, potential for future oil and gas activity in the vicinity of his long-time family ranch,” Bohlen related in an email to senior agency staffers that same day, June 11, 2014. Bohlen set noon the next day as a target for getting the research done for delivery to Brown.
After Brown’s initial call, his aides called back within hours to ask regulators to look at what minerals might lie under the Brown ranch and also emailed to make sure the regulators were doing a map for the governor.
California law bars elected officials from using public employees or other public resources for personal purposes, with limited exceptions for things like occasional personal calls from work phones.
Regulators and Brown’s office declined to provide examples of any similar geological assessments and maps that oil gas regulators had done for anyone else who was curious about any oil and gas potential of their private land. The AP has filed a public records request for them.
Petroleum-industry professionals contacted by the AP said they never heard of regulators carrying out and compiling that kind of research, analysis and mapping for private individuals. The AP told the oil-industry professionals only that state regulators did the work for a state official.
Assessing a private property’s oil and gas and mineral potential is not something that state regulators typically do, one oil industry executive said. “There’s no evaluation. That’s not a service they provide at all,” said Rick Peace, president of a Bakersfield, California, company that helps manage oil exploration and production.
Roland Bain, a petroleum geologist based in Northern California, said he was struck by the report’s “beautiful map.” It was labeled “Oil and Gas Potential In West Colusa County,” and the PDF said “JB_Ranch.”
“Anyone calling in for help is not going to get that,” Bain said. “The division of oil and gas has never been in a position to give you detailed geological mapping.”
Historical oilfield records that made up much of the documents are available to the public, and ordinary people can get them by searching on the agency’s website, or by visiting one of the agency’s offices, which charge for photocopies, Peace noted.
But, as for regulators preparing and compiling assessments, reports and maps for someone’s private purposes, “I’ve never heard of that,” said Jean Pledger, a Bakersfield oil and gas attorney.
Typically, landowners find out their land has unrealized oil and gas potential only if oil industry agents scout out the property and approach the owners, said Sacramento-based oil and gas attorney James Day.
Alternatively, individuals can hire an independent petroleum geologist at $200 to $400 an hour, Day said.
Drysdale of the oil and gas division said state law allows state officials to access public records on the same basis as any member of the public.
Jessica Levinson, a governance expert and professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said that if state regulators had done that kind of work before for private landowners, they should be able to provide examples.
Of Brown’s request, Levinson said, “if no other private individual is able to avail himself of this opportunity, and it’s clearly just for personal gain instead of public benefit, then it’s clearly problematic.”
Brown told the Sacramento Bee in 2013 that he and his family owned a controlling interest in the acreage near Williams and that he planned to put a house on the property. The state research done on the ranch was first disclosed in a lawsuit by attorney Patricia Oliver on behalf of a group of Kern County farmers who allege the Brown administration worked with the oil industry to circumvent laws meant to protect groundwater from contamination.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has faulted state oil and gas regulators for failing to enforce federal laws meant to prevent oilfield pollution of the state’s reserves of water for drinking and irrigation. Last month, Bohlen blamed his “dramatically understaffed” labor force for the state’s failures to enforce those federal codes.
The Associated Press contributed to this article
“Bohlen blamed his ´dramatically understaffed´ labor force for the state’s failures- -. Certainly. There was adequate staff to do the special report for governor Brown, and immediately. However, not enough staff to do their assigned job. Sounds like the “elected” of California – – . Is Brown related to the Calif congressional “staff” ?
Exactly.
Governor Brown seems to have no problem with oil and gas when he stands to profit from it. This demonstrates the problem I have with the global warming (climate change) crowd. They insist on enacting laws that will limit the average person’s use of fossil fuels, but those same people generate much more carbon dioxide than the average person ever will create. If global warming is such a problem they should scale back their lifestyle and fly less. Based on their words it appears the world is about to be damaged beyond repair by global warming. Based on their actions, energy and resource usage produces no real damage to our environment.
Yeah this is just one incident of taxpayer abuse. I’m sure they’re are other abuse and misuses as well.
Every thing he does is for himself and the wicked witches of the West. Oh and add in sanchez, Washington and a whole host of others. The train to no where that we DID NOT WANT? Contract went to ??? The bid to buy all government empty buildings like old post offices went to??? Good guess would be to the witches and their husbands. No thought to refurbish for low income folks or homes for vets and homeless. For the rich to get richer. Mooney was bad the first time and worse this time. Oh, he is trying to out do bo plenty. Evil losers both.
We have owned some timberland in California for many decades although we live in Texas. When they passed Prop 13 back in 1978 I was looking forward to our taxes on that land dropping. A relative in Illinois owned the adjoining acreage and expected a drop also. What a surprise, our taxes actually went up. I did a little research and discovered that ONLY out-of-state owners had the raise in taxes while the in-state owners’ taxes dropped precipitously.
I started a personal campaign and I wrote letters to everyone in power anywhere in the country, including Moonbeam Brown, and threatened to notify 60 Minutes. It took a while, but they finally lowered our taxes, too, and those of our relative.
I guess they thought we were stupid enough to not realize what was happening out there. I am more than willing to pay my FAIR share, but FAIR is the operative word there.
The Brown administrations are a joke to anyone with half a brain.
Brown is just another hypocrite liberal,do as I say not as I do. And these same democrats will lie about anything and think nothing of it. We the stupid people of Ca keep voting these liberal dirtbags in.
the typical liberal outlook that the end justifies the means
CA Governor Moonbeam should have been replaced a long time ago…. Hope they reserve him a cell next to Hillary & Bill. Oh yeh, Obama can be with them too………………….
NOT ME. Once was enough……………………really bad then.
prosecute him with all the might the criminal justice system can muster. our government is corrupt, not only in calli but more so in the federal government. it is akin to living in columbia.
Another crooked Democrat; who woulda thought?
What did you expect from a Democrat leftist Gov? Honesty and clean hands? I did not – and never would – vote for him; but those who did – eat your hats now….
MEXI – FORNIA always has been on the wild side – now we are for sure they are . //////////////////////////////////
jerry isn’t the Gov. his daddy was i just wish he’d go away and take kamala with him he could sell her to obama for thirty pieces of silver he seems kinda hot for her bod every time they show up in the news cycle together maybe he could fix the roads before he goes though you could lose a VW in the chuck holes if you couldn’t smell them for their exhaust emmissions
It’s about time this pro communist governor is kicked out of office. Shame liberal voters of California for voting for crooks like this guy and going overboard for big liar Hillary.
Agree and AMEN!
This is the same Governor that is pushing through a “bullet train” at a cost of
$100 BILLION instead of a water pipeline to bring SoCal water from upstate
or even from Washington or Oregon at a lesser figure.
He is also the one allowing 5-6 MILLION illegals to live, work?, and receive
benefits in California (one of two “Californians” cannot, and do not try to,
speak English!!
read it good, this is the last time this story will see the light of day…
He can’t help it; he got his education following that lying Hillary. Just Throw in in Leavenworth awaiting Hillary..
They made the mistake to elect him the first time. Isn’t the definition of insanity is making the same mistake again and again and expecting a different result?
Hypocrisy is common in Left Wing politics. He lives by a double standard, like Hillary. They push their left wing agenda and ideologies on us but don’t want to live by them themselves.
My big problem with him is his lack of understanding our infrastructure requirements. In the sixties, they built dams and a water delivery system for about 17 million people. Well we have twice that now. So why not build another dam in the Delta area and save a trillion gallons of water every year? That’s about the extra 25% that we need now. And build a couple desalinization plants too. The costs would be less than the cost of some foolish unnecessary bullet train for $90 billion. This is common sense.
And then there’s the stupid transgender law to allow kids to choose their own gender if they feel different in schools.???? What the f___K … he’s demented!