“I never imagined that we’d be here fighting this fight again to protect our coast, against offshore and seabed mining, but the federal government’s recent action makes it clear that the protections that we all believed were permanent are now at risk again.” — Wendy Root Askew, Monterey County Supervisor.
MONTEREY — More than 200 attended a “People’s Hearing” Friday evening to listen and voice their concerns about a draft proposal by the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to issue oil and gas drilling leases off the California coast
The “Stand Up, Save Our Coast” event was hosted by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Oceana, Save Our Shores and Surfrider Monterey. It was originally scheduled to be in the held at the Portola Hotel & Spa’s Bonsai room, but was it relocated to the larger De Anza Ballroom to accommodate the event’s turnout.
“This region is no stranger to this fight,” said Save Our Shores Executive Director Katie Thompson.
Federal law explicitly states that oil and gas leasing is prohibited in national marine sanctuaries, like the Monterey bay, yet they are currently included in the draft proposal.
“Failing to exclude these sanctuary waters is a profound departure from decades of bipartisan commitment,” said Root Askew.
There has been no oil drilling off the coast of California in 40 years, but the recent proposal looks to change that. It proposes six oil and gas drilling lease sales in federal waters off of California over the next five years. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management also proposed seven lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and 21 in Alaska.
With the deadline for public comments to be submitted quickly approaching, and the federal government having scheduled no hearings for public comment, California’s coastal communities decided to hold their own People’s Hearing.
Elected officials from both Monterey and Santa Cruz counties spoke at the event, along with other community leaders.
Offshore drilling is a process, using massive platforms to drill through the seafloor and extract fossil fuels. The United States does not currently need new offshore drilling to meet energy needs, with oil and gas companies already holding over 1,800 unused leases covering over 10 million acres of U.S. ocean waters.
“We know that we have in Washington, D.C. a president who takes pleasure in destruction and cruelty. And I don’t think this is any more than that,” said Monterey County Supervisor Kate Daniels. “We have all the supply we need. It outstrips demand. This is just petty cruelty, petty payback at Californians.”
Additionally, Thompson shared that the country reached an all-time high in oil production in 2024, without opening any new federal lands or waters to drilling.
“Offshore drilling causes environmental harm at every single stage, from exploration, to extraction, to refining,” she said.
Seismic blasting used to search for oil injures and disorients whales and dolphins, drilling rigs discharge toxic waste onto the seafloor and “spills are inevitable and devastate ecosystems and coastal economies.” Refineries on land pollute frontline communities with dangerous air toxins, and disproportionately impact lower income communities and communities of color.
All it takes is one oil spill to erase decades of conservation efforts, devastated fisheries and undermine tourism economies that sustain coastal communities, said Monterey Mayor Tyller Williamson.
“All of it fuels the climate crisis already threatening our ocean,” Thompson said.
Speakers pointed out Monterey Bay has a history standing up to big oil. In the 1970s and ’80s, offshore drilling was proposed along the coast, and the community “didn’t wait for rigs to appear on the coast,” locals organized to stop drilling before it even started.
Efforts like these helped to establish the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary in 1992.
“Monterey Bay is one of the most biologically rich marine ecosystems on the planet. Said another way, Monterey Bay is part of the globally significant marine ecosystem,” said Williamson. “It’s protected because it’s valuable, not just environmentally, but economically and culturally. Offshore drilling puts all of that at risk for short-term gain.”
“Today, all jurisdictions, all cities in Monterey and Santa Cruz County, and the counties themselves, have resolutions opposing any expansion,” said Thompson. “So the message is clear: we don’t want more drilling off of our coast.”
Santa Cruz County Supervisor Justin Cummings shared when Trump took office, there were a couple of actions he took that signaled the potential of offshore drilling and deep sea mining. The first was the executive order Unleashing America’s Energy Act and the second was Unleashing America’s Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources.
“Our worst fear happened,” when a request came through for information for the 11th National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program.
“When that common period opened, it triggered that this is something real. Even though it’s completely illegal, don’t put that past this administration,” he warned.
Many of the event’s speakers shared the same sentiments, encouraging attendees to get involved, just like local communities have previously to stop offshore drilling.
“At a time when California is leading the nation in clean energy, solar, wind, opening new oil leases is not just dangerous, it’s backwards,” said Alexis Garcia-Arrazola, Seaside city council member, “But here’s what Donald Trump and the oil industry don’t understand about California: we fight back. We fight back with policy, we fight back with organizing and we fight back with people power.”
The Coastal Commission’s federal consistency gives the people a voice on this through an official process, said State Senator John Laird. “We have to make sure we use it, and so, my statement is just: act.
“Act by writing a letter, by taking to the streets, act by coming to things like this, act by writing op-eds, act by talking to people that you think might not agree.”
Organizers suggested people could also get involved by submitting a public comment before Jan. 23, signing Oceana’s petition (https://act.oceana.org/page/181643/petition/1?ea.tracking.id=field) and signing Surfrider’s petition (https://surfrider.advocacyai.com/action/1H4hEiM24fiyJBXxb3).
For more ways to get involved, including detailed instructions on how to submit a public comment, and for further information on the draft petition and the impact offshore oil drilling, visit saveourshores.org/drilling
