United States Rep. Mike Levin, D-49,is reintroducing a bill to ban oil drilling off the California coast.
The backdrop for Tuesday morning’s announcement was a bluff above the sand at Solana Beach, the blue waters of the Pacific in the background; just what Levin said his legislation is meant to safeguard. The bill is called the Southern California Coast and Ocean Protection Act.
“It permanently and unequivocally bans new offshore drilling off our coastline,” Levin said.
The bill covers any new drilling in the coastal waters from the border with Mexico to the northern border of San Luis Obispo County. Levin said he’s received strong support from municipalities up and down the coast, and that support is bipartisan.
“There are many local jobs at risk, and previously, the United States Navy has said drilling would hamper their training mission. If rigs were to be placed offshore, I certainly can’t guarantee, and neither can the federal government, that there won’t be an environmental catastrophe,” said state Assemblymember Laurie Davies, R-74.
You don’t have to look too far back in the history books to find oil spill catastrophes along California’s coast. The most recent major one happened in 2021 off Huntington Beach, when approximately 25,000 gallons of crude oil spilled. An investigation determined a ship’s anchor pierced a pipeline. The economic costs were estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
“We’re reliant on a healthy, clean and diverse ocean that supports more than 350,000 jobs and generates more than $25 billion through fishing, tourism and recreation. Those jobs vanish fast when there’s a spill,” said Lisa Gilfillan, who works in the San Diego office of the environmental group, Oceana.
The Trump administration’s plan goes beyond California’s coastline. It would also open up waters off Florida and Alaska. Levin said there is bipartisan opposition in those states as well, and that lawsuits are sure to be filed.
Levin said he introduced legislation against drilling during the Biden administration, but it did not pass. He’s not sure if his bill will be taken up in this session of Congress. But he said he is certain that if it’s not, Republicans and Democrats up and down the coast will continue to fight for it.
