California leaders vehemently oppose expanded offshore oil

Politicians, environmental groups and business organizations throughout the state and country expressed outrage Thursday at a Trump administration plan to significantly increase offshore oil leasing, calling the plan an attempt to “destroy one of the most valuable, most protected coastlines in the world and hand it over to the fossil fuel industry.”

“Trump’s idiotic plan endangers our coastal economy and communities and hurts the well-being of Californians,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a press release. “This reckless attempt to sell out our coastline to his Big Oil donors is dead in the water. Californians remember the environmental and economic devastation of past oil spills. For decades, California has stood firm in our opposition to new offshore drilling, and nothing will change that. We will use every tool at our disposal to protect our coastline.”

On Thursday, the Interior Department announced plans to significantly expand offshore oil production along the California coast and portions of the Gulf of Mexico (which the Trump administration has renamed the “Gulf of America”).

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