Oil production began in 1886 with drilling in Summerland . Enormous oil fields such as the Orcutt , Lompoc , Santa Maria Valley , and Cat Canyon fields provided jobs and a steady supply of oil , gas , and asphalt since the first oil discovery in the Solomon Hills in 1901 . Protests have marked periodic resistance to the impact of oil drilling over the years . A protest in 1929 in Santa Barbara expressed the frustration of the wealthy who came here to get away from it all . The largest spill in California waters , credited as a spark for the modern environmental movement , coated the beaches and Santa Barbara Harbor with a thick crude in 1969 . In recent years , major oil companies have left the area , turning over their oil leases to small independents , and decommissioning some leases areas that were no longer profitable . Concerns about the economy were foremost when , in 2014 , Measure P was placed on the county ballot . If approve by the voters the measure would ban " high-intensity petroleum operations " in the county
largest spill in California waters
1969 Santa Barbara oil spill
Santa Barbara County, California