Hope on Horizon for Offshore-Drilling Foes : Nominee to Head Interior Department Is Personal Friend of Ron Packard

Just when things were looking grim for opponents of oil drilling off the San Diego County coast, a glimmer of hope has appeared.

The reason for the renewed optimism is the selection of a close friend of Rep. Ron Packard (R-Carlsbad) for the influential post of secretary of the Interior. The Department of Interior will play a big role in dictating whether oil platforms sprout from local waters.

Packard, a staunch opponent of offshore drilling, served on the House Science and Technology Committee with former Republican Rep. Manuel Lujan Jr. of New Mexico, the nominee to become secretary of the Interior.

More Sympathetic Ear

The close working relationship the two enjoyed in Congress, Packard said, could mean that local officials will have a more sympathetic ear at Interior.

“All in all, I’m a little more optimistic,” Packard said Thursday. “We may get disappointed, but right now our options and our hopes are better than they were.”

Indeed, the situation had appeared particularly dire for North County of late. In November, the federal government took steps toward the leasing of 17 sea-bottom tracts for oil drilling off the coast of Camp Pendleton, Oceanside and Carlsbad.

That package was added to an earlier lease proposal, announced by Interior in mid-1987, extending from San Luis Obispo to Mexico and including more than 1,300 tracts, most of them covering about 9 square miles.

Packard talked by telephone Thursday with Lujan, a 20-year veteran of Congress who retired this year, and came away with an agreement that the two will meet to discuss the offshore oil issue in February after Lujan is officially appointed.

Although Lujan emphasized during the conversation that he would “have to follow the dictates of the President,” he enters the fray with a “very objective and open-minded” attitude toward the myriad issues in the oil-drilling debate, Packard said.

Lujan could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Past Chiefs Criticized

Environmentalists and other opponents of drilling have long criticized Interior chiefs such as James G. Watt and Donald P. Hodel, saying they pushed an overzealous campaign to tap the oil that lies off the California coast.

When President-elect George Bush announced the selection of Lujan on Dec. 22, both liberals and conservatives praised the choice, saying the longtime congressman would prove effective in developing a natural-resources policy with the sort of broad public support not achieved under the Reagan Administration.

A politician who prefers compromise to confrontation, Lujan was the ranking Republican on the House Interior Committee until he resigned because of his aversion to the political contention caused by Watt’s tenure.

His nomination to the Interior post, however, was viewed as a disappointment by some national environmental groups. In the 100th Congress, Lujan cast his lot with environmentalists on only 16% of the votes, according to the League of Conservation Voters.

At the very least, Packard said, Lujan should have “a good listening ear” for the concerns of San Diego County residents and lawmakers worried about the environmental and aesthetic effects of drilling on the fragile coastline.

Made Trips Together

While serving on the science committee together, Packard and Lujan made several committee trips together and their wives became close friends.

“I think we know each other, we respect each other and like each other well,” Packard said. “I’ll certainly have a link to his office, and that certainly will not hurt. I’m pleased to know he’s there.”

In contrast, Packard has had little success trying to negotiate with Hodel, the outgoing Interior secretary.