Header photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images: People gather at the beach after sunset with offshore oil and gas platform Esther in the distance on Jan. 5, 2025, in Seal Beach, California. President Joe Biden banned new offshore oil and gas drilling on Monday Jan. 6, 2025 across 625 million acres of federal waters in an effort to cement his environmental legacy before President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20th. Platform Esther is located approximately 1.5 miles away from Seal Beach and operates within California state waters.
Thank you to the Marin Independent Journal for publishing an Op-Ed on late November’s proposal, 11th National Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing Program, aimed at opening up to 34 potential lease sales across more than 1.27 billion acres of ocean…
“The Trump administration is threatening California’s future by proposing to open the state’s coastline to offshore oil drilling for the first time in more than four decades.
A newly released draft plan would allow up to six lease sales off the California coast, alongside expanded drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska. This reckless proposal ignores science, overwhelming public opposition and the urgent need to move away from fossil fuels amid an accelerating climate crisis.
Offshore drilling would threaten the hard-won recovery of humpback and gray whales, as well as elephant and harbor seals — species only now rebounding after decades of exploitation. Increased industrial activity would disrupt migration routes, feeding grounds and breeding behavior, harming not only marine life but also coastal economies and cultural traditions. Whale watching, recreational fishing and sustainable seafood industries depend on healthy oceans, not coastlines dominated by oil platforms, pipelines and tanker traffic.
California understands the dangers of offshore drilling all too well. The 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill released hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude into the ocean, coating beaches and killing wildlife for miles. That catastrophe helped spark the modern environmental movement and led to foundational marine protections still in place today. Yet history has repeatedly shown that offshore drilling is never risk-free. Pipelines corrode, platforms fail and accidents — both major and minor — cause lasting harm to marine ecosystems. Even so-called “routine” spills accumulate damage over time.
Today, California’s ocean is already under severe strain. Decades of warming waters, overfishing, pollution and habitat loss have left marine ecosystems far less resilient than they once were. Kelp forests have collapsed, key species have declined and food webs have been disrupted. Places like the Farallon Islands, Tomales Bay and Bolinas Lagoon showcase the richness of California’s marine habitats — but also their fragility. Introducing offshore drilling into these stressed systems could push them beyond recovery.”
