CENIAL, Ceni - Faced with a revolt of two vital constituencies that could prove crucial during the next presidential election, leaders of the three major parties that together have control over the Cenian government (the Congress for Democratic Socialism, Social Democrats, and Greens) have reached a compromise agreement on drilling in the Hammerhead oil field that they have said will please activists on both sides of the drilling issue. However, the bill does not end debate on the contentious measure, which is sure to become a big debate in the upcoming presidential issue that might divide each of the parties while providing a boost to the more moderate to conservative parties in government.
Unions, a major constituency of the CSD and the Social Democrats, had been pushing for a bill allowing for expansion of drilling into the recently discovered field, claiming that the bill would create jobs for their unemployed members in the City Centre manufacturing hub, one of the biggest in Ceni. In particular, the sector does a thriving trade in petrochemicals and refined oil from all around Terranea to satisfy the needs of multiple industrial giants in Eura. The Moderates have said they would push for this bill on the same grounds. However, opoosition to the bill has coalesced along multiple fronts. The main challenge came from environmentalists, who argued that expansion of drilling would not only increase carbon emissions, but would almost certainly result in an oil spill, resulting in damage to large amounts of seafood, which supports a thriving fishing industry, and migratory birds, which frequent numerous rocky islets along the coast to catch fish and lay eggs. The New Cenians, meanwhile, opposed it on the grounds that it would support more jobs in Eura than those in Ceni. The debate over the issue turned quite acrimonious from both sides, both vital constituencies of the liberal parties currently in government, and both sides had refused to compromise for some months on the issue.
However, a coalition led by Senator Sebastian Greyhelm of the Moderates (who represents Whitehaven) and Councillor Drago Iscandar of the CSD (who represents City Centre sought to break the impasse and deliver a compromise with aspects that would please both sides. The two divided their proposal into several bills in order to make it more palatable to each side of the debate and allow for some members to vote no on individual aspects. One bill proposed an easing of drilling limits in the Hammerhead oil field specifically, while leaving other areas untouched for now. Another - to appease the environmentalists - stated the measures that companies must take to make sure their wells are safe and don't spill. Finally, a third bill stated Ceni's commitment to expanding its use of renewable energy and making itself more efficient, including money to fund new tidal, wind, wave, and solar projects. While everything didn't please everyone on the issue, the two assemblymen weren't aiming to do that, says Greyhelm. "We know that a compromise means that everybody has to give up something - but we know that it was a win for everybody today when this series of bills passed." The unions and their allies got drilling in the Hammerhead oil field, while the environmentalists got increased safeguards and more funding for renewable energy to make Ceni less reliant on fossil fuels.
Both sides had mixed feelings about the new compromise bill, as befitting one that sacrificed some of each side's interests. Raoul Jaran, the president of the Cenian Association of Tradesmen (CAT), said that, for the most part, his union was satisfied with the results of the bill. "We are very excited at the potential for new jobs that this bill will bring, not only in the oil and petrochemical industries, but also in the expansion of renewables. This bill is clearly a win for Cenian workers, so we are proud to support it, as it will continue to support us through new jobs four workers." Robert Jenvax, a spokesperson for Endais Chemicals, one of the larger firms involved in the petrochemical industry, said that his company was "looking into the costs involved in making sure our facilities meet the new environmental regulations, but we are confident that this new measure will allow us to meet the needs of our customers in greater volume and provide jobs for the Cenian economy." Environmentalist Alan Farlance of Citizens Against Drilling said that his group would continue the fight against drilling in the Hammerhead oil field, saying that "we cannot sell out our environment for bundles of cash. We must remain steadfast in our opposition to projects that will trash nature in order to extract its resources and pollute our earth even more." The Greens leader in the Senate, Senator Sevisa Aralen of Cenial, says she is "concerned about the effects of more oil drilling in Cenian waters on the Cenian environment and the environment of the world as a whole, but I am happy about the measures our Assembly has taken to reduce the impact and likelihood of oil spills and to increase the proportion of renewable energy as part of Ceni's energy supply."
Economist Joshua Celtru of the University of Ceni thinks that the move will produce at least a short-term boom in the economy of Ceni, while the long-term effects would be more difficult to gage. "Of course, in the short run, there will be an influx in the Cenian economy as companies buy equipment and start to hire people to work on the rigs. And this boom will likely last for at least several months, if not longer, as the oil starts to flow to refineries in City Centre and to Euran markets." However, he warned of the consequences of a Euran recession or fall in oil prices. "We can't be too complacent with our reliance on oil. If a recession hits Eura, for example, then the oil industry will certainly take a big hit, as they are one of their biggest customers, although likely the entire economy will take a hit as well. But a fall in oil prices will hit the oil producers in the Hammerhead field a bit more directly - they will start to make less money, and they will have to lay off workers and reduce their pay, which of course will have a negative effect on the economy." He warns communities that are expecting to rely on the oil boom to brace for the inevitable fall in their communities' livelihood.
Political analyst Gil Korova of Cenian Public Radio says that the compromise would have far-ranging consequences into the presidential race coming up later this year. "While some groups are mad - understandably - I think that this was a good set of bills that, overall, address most of the concerns of both sides on the debate and allayed a lot of concerns from both sides." He also opined that the compromise shows the vitality of the Cenian government and that it is still willing to compromise to get legislation passed. Above all, though, it almost entirely removed the issue from the upcoming presidential race as a debate. "While some ardent supporters of course will bring this specific issue up, and the Greens will probably, in some fashion, campaign against it or for more renewables, the measure solves the rift in the CDS and Social Democrats between the unions and the environmentalists and it repairs party unity in face of a very contested presidential election coming up this year. The primary season hasn't finished up yet, so it's good to set this issue which has been producing quite a bit of contention aside and focus on other issues which might be neglected in the overall political sphere."
