Attorney General Bonta Slams the Trump Administration’s Offshore Oil and Gas Drilling Plans

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta joined the California Natural Resources Agency in submitting a comment letter, reaffirming opposition to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) 11th National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Draft Proposed Program (DPP). BOEM is a federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior. The proposed program determines which offshore areas could be opened to lease sales for oil and gas activity during the 2026-2031 period and includes six lease sales in California’s Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) planning areas. In the comment letter, which responds to BOEM’s recent Notice of Intent to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act, Attorney General Bonta highlights the risks posed by increased offshore oil and gas development.

“The Trump administration continues to pursue opportunities for his Big Oil friends to profit at the cost of our environment and public health,” said Attorney General Bonta. “California knows the devastating impacts of offshore oil drilling all too well. From oil spills that threaten our clean waters to irreversible damage to our public health, California will not stand for attempts to increase offshore oil and gas production at our expense. My office remains fully opposed to this program and is committed to protecting California’s natural resources.”

“California stands firmly against any new offshore oil drilling,” said California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot. “This latest proposal from the Trump administration puts our national security at risk and threatens our $51 billion coastal economy. It’s dangerous and will do nothing to lower our gas prices. Bad for the environment, bad for national security, bad for Californians." 

California’s longstanding policy has been to oppose oil and gas leasing off its cherished shores because it has too often suffered the negative impacts from oil and gas development. These consequences were the most pronounced after the 2015 Refugio oil spill in Santa Barbara County and the 1969 blowout of Union Oil’s Platform A in the Santa Barbara Channel. The Union Oil spill, the third largest in American history, caused staggering harm to California’s economy and its environment. It resulted in an 11-day spill, with as much as 4.2 million gallons of crude oil covering over 800 square miles of ocean with tar-black pitch. Since then, California has banned any offshore leasing in state waters and has consistently opposed federal oil and gas leasing efforts off its shores.

Since 1984, there has been no other leasing activity offshore in California, but this program proposes six lease sales in the Pacific Region: three sales in the Southern California planning area, two in the Central California planning area, and one in the Northern California planning area. The California planning areas were included in the DPP despite California’s historical opposition to leasing in the California OCS and significant opposition from state and local officials and California residents to the proposal. BOEM does not present a reasoned basis for this leasing option or for changing the federal government’s longstanding policy against lease sales in California’s OCS. In recognition of the state’s consistent and longstanding opposition to lease sales off its coast, Attorney General Bonta maintains that BOEM should exclude California from the 2026-2031 program.

In the comment letter, Attorney General Bonta argues that:

• Failure to complete a PEIS for the DPP is a significant departure from the past five decades of five-year programs and is without sufficient explanation.
• BOEM should consider renewable OCS resources rather than oil and gas development.
• BOEM must consider conflicts with California’s laws, goals, and policies.

Attorney General Bonta and the California Natural Resources Agency further state that if BOEM persists with this process, there are many considerations BOEM must address in the PEIS, including, but not limited to, environmental impacts from exploration, development, production, and decommissioning, national security impacts, and impacts to coastal resources.    

Attorney General Bonta is committed to protecting California’s natural resources and the livelihoods of those who rely on them. He previously condemned President Trump’s plan to open up waters offshore California for drilling and he joined a coalition in opposing new lease sales for oil and gas activity off the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. Separately, Attorney General Bonta also filed a successful lawsuit against the Trump Administration over its unlawful attempt to freeze the development of wind energy.