Huffman, Padilla Lead California Lawmakers in Condemning Trump’s Plan to Allow Oil Drilling Along California’s Pristine Coastline

28 California lawmakers to President Trump, Secretary Burgum: “Further industrialization off our coast will inevitably pollute our beaches, spelling disaster for California’s economy and detrimentally impacting the rest of the country, which relies on California as an economic engine.”

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Representative Jared Huffman (CA-02), along with U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), led 26 members of the California Democratic Congressional delegation in condemning the Trump Administration’s official draft 2027-2032 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program that includes six lease proposals off the coast of Northern, Central, and Southern California. The plan proposes opening vast swaths of previously protected federal waters — including the California coast — to new oil and gas drilling for the first time in over 40 years, disregarding bipartisan opposition.

The Trump Administration’s overwhelmingly unpopular proposal directly targets areas former President Joe Biden withdrew from future leasing in January 2025, when he protected 625 million acres. In their letter to President Trump and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, the lawmakers stressed that this plan would undermine state laws that prohibit new offshore drilling along its 1,110-mile coastline and ban new leases for oil and gas infrastructure in state waters.

“We stand united with the overwhelming majority of Californians who fundamentally oppose any proposal that would expand offshore drilling and risk our state’s invaluable, ecologically unique coast,” wrote the lawmakers. “This proposal, coupled with ongoing efforts to reduce federal staffing and funding for agencies that protect our environment, including for safety and oil spill response, is not only dangerous but outright reckless.”

“As we have repeatedly seen in California and other parts of the country, offshore drilling is a ticking time bomb,” continued the lawmakers. “Any expansion of offshore drilling in the waters off the coast of California and the spills that would inevitably accompany it would be devastating to the communities we represent.”

The lawmakers emphasized the devastating impacts new oil and gas leasing would have on California’s environment, military readiness, and diverse coastal economy, threatening the state’s tourism, recreation, fisheries, deepwater port commerce, and defense infrastructure industries. California’s marine economy accounted for $51.3 billion in GDP and $26.7 billion in wages, and pollution off its coast would significantly damage the state’s world-leading economy, hurting the entire country.

California began efforts to block offshore drilling in 1969 when an oil rig off the coast of Santa Barbara leaked 3 million gallons of crude oil into the ocean, blanketing beaches with a thick layer of oil and killing thousands of marine mammals and birds. It was the largest oil spill in U.S. history until the Exxon Valdez spill 20 years later. In the past decade, the 2015 Refugio State Beach oil spill and the 2021 Huntington Beach oil spill have further demonstrated the immense risks of offshore drilling expansion.

In addition to Representative Huffman and Senator Padilla, the letter was also signed by Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.-11), and Representatives Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.-44), Julia Brownley (D-Calif.-26), Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.-24), Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.-31), Lou Correa (D-Calif.-46), Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.-10), Laura Friedman (D-Calif.-30), John Garamendi (D-Calif.-08), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.-37), Mike Levin (D-Calif.-49), Ted Lieu (D-Calif.-36), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.-18), Doris Matsui (D-Calif.-07), Dave Min (D-Calif.-47), Kevin Mullin (D-Calif.-15), Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.-19), Scott Peters (D-Calif.-50), Luz Rivas (D-Calif.-29), Brad Sherman (D-Calif.-32), Lateefah Simon (D-Calif.-12), Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.-14), Mark Takano (D-Calif.-39), Derek Tran (D-Calif.-45), and Juan Vargas (D-Calif.-52).

Representative Huffman and Senator Padilla have been leading the charge against offshore oil and gas leases. Last month, Padilla and Huffman issued a joint statement and hosted a press call condemning the Trump Administration’s sell-off to Big Oil immediately after it was announced. In October, Padilla and Huffman led over 100 lawmakers in demanding President Trump and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum immediately cease any plans to open new offshore oil and gas leases in U.S. federal waters off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, in the Arctic Ocean and northern Bering Sea off of Alaska, and in the Eastern Gulf.

On Earth Day, Huffman and Padilla, along with Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Senator Jack Reed (D-R.I.), and Representative Frank Pallone (D-N.J.-06), announced a pair of bills to permanently protect the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans from the dangers of fossil fuel drilling. Padilla and Huffman’s West Coast Ocean Protection Act would permanently prohibit new oil and gas leases for offshore drilling off the coast of California, Oregon, and Washington. In 2021, Senator Padilla joined West Coast Senators in calling on Senate leadership to include the West Coast Ocean Protection Act in the Senate version of the budget reconciliation bill after an estimated 126,000 gallons of oil spilled off the coast of California.

Full text of the letter is available here and below:

Dear Mr. President and Secretary Burgum:

We write in strong opposition to the Draft Proposed Program (DPP) for the 11th National Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program. We specifically want to express our strongest opposition to the inclusion of the Northern California OCS Planning Area, the Central California OCS Planning Area, and the Southern California OCS Planning Area in the DPP for oil and gas leasing disposition.

We stand united with the overwhelming majority of Californians who fundamentally oppose any proposal that would expand offshore drilling and risk our state’s invaluable, ecologically unique coast. This proposal, coupled with ongoing efforts to reduce federal staffing and funding for agencies that protect our environment, including for safety and oil spill response, is not only dangerous but outright reckless. As we have repeatedly seen in California and other parts of the country, offshore drilling is a ticking time bomb. Any expansion of offshore drilling in the waters off the coast of California and the spills that would inevitably accompany it would be devastating to the communities we represent.

In April 2025, California officially became the fourth-largest economy in the world, behind only the United States, China, and Germany in global rankings. Our economy is diverse and robust, including sectors such as tourism, recreation, fisheries, deepwater port commerce, and Department of Defense infrastructure. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), California’s marine economy alone accounted for $51.3 billion in GDP and $26.7 billion in wages in 2021. The economic well-being of these sectors is dependent upon a healthy and clean coastline. Further industrialization off our coast will inevitably pollute our beaches, spelling disaster for California’s economy and detrimentally impacting the rest of the country, which relies on California as an economic engine.

California is all too familiar with the devastating impacts of oil spills. The 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill remains the largest in our state’s history—and one of the landmark spills in U.S. history. Immediate damage to birds, intertidal organisms, beaches, and the economy was severe. That experience galvanized Californians and secured an unshakable commitment to protecting our coastline. The more recent 2015 Refugio oil spill and 2021 Huntington Beach oil spill reinforced our strong opposition to any offshore drilling expansion.

Our Congressional delegation, state leaders, and dozens of California municipalities and Tribes have expressed their opposition through resolutions or comment letters, along with state groups and citizens. The bipartisan consensus against expanded offshore drilling has been clear and consistent over five decades. This has resulted in current state laws that include a permanent ban on new offshore oil and gas drilling along California’s 1,110-mile coastline and a prohibition on new leases for oil and gas infrastructure in state waters that enable increased oil and gas production from federal waters. As stated in the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)’s Request for Information and reinforced by the comments BOEM received from our state, “As a result of Congressional moratoria, subsequent Presidential actions, and consistent opposition by the States of Washington, Oregon, and California to any activity off their coasts, the Pacific OCS has not been included in any National OCS Program since the 1987–1992 Program.”

In addition to the economic and environmental reasons for not expanding drilling off California’s coasts, our national defense would be better served by keeping additional oil rigs away from our shores. California’s waters and coastline are strategically vital, hosting a significant number of military installations, key logistics routes, and special-use airspace. Allowing oil and gas development, or the risk of spills, in areas where our servicemembers routinely operate would undermine military readiness and pose risks to national security.

For these reasons and more, we write in strong opposition to the Proposed Program (DPP) for the 11th National Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program. We specifically want to express our strongest opposition to the inclusion of the Northern California OCS Planning Area, the Central California OCS Planning Area, and the Southern California OCS Planning Area in the DPP for oil and gas leasing disposition. We appreciate your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

To view the release online, click here.

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