Venoco Oil has raised $132,000 this year for Measure J, the ballot initiative asking Carpinteria residents to approve the siting, construction, and operation of a new slant drilling operation—dubbed Paredon—right behind Carpinteria’s City Hall. That is in addition to the $147,000 that Venoco raised for the campaign in the last three months of 2009. Based on campaign finance reports, Venoco is the sole donor to Measure J. By contrast, opponents of the Paredon project have raised far less money—$28,000 —and received far more individual donations than Venoco. Opponents raised $17,000 dollars in the last three months of 2009. For the reporting period between January 1 and March 17, the major donors against Measure J included the Fund for Santa Barbara ($2,000) Lee Heller, a longtime progressive activist and dog advocate ($1,000), and Carpinteria resident and environmental activist Mike Wondolowski ($1,000).
