Only public hearing on offshore drilling plan will be held today in Sacramento
SACRAMENTO – Today, to coincide with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s only public meeting on the Trump Administration’s plan to expand offshore oil development in federal waters, State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), released the following statement:
“Today, the Trump Administration is holding its only public meeting on its plan to expand offshore oil drilling in federal waters. The meeting, here in land-locked Sacramento, is being held hundreds of miles from coastal communities like my own that will be directly impacted by offshore oil drilling and the threat of oil spills. Both the process and plan are tone deaf: Tone deaf to the realities of our coastal economy, tone deaf to California’s commitment to a clean energy future, tone deaf to our long-standing bipartisan commitment to ending offshore oil drilling, and tone deaf to the wishes of the public.
By recklessly expanding offshore oil drilling, we risk devastating impacts to our coastal economies, our state, our wildlife and our way of life. We are now seeing an unprecedented number of members of the business community joining us in speaking out in opposition to this plan. As California deepens its commitments to a clean energy future, we are tackling climate change, not denying it, and I will continue to move forward with my Senate Bill 834to ensure that pipelines and other infrastructure cannot be built in California waters to enable the dirty, destructive and dangerous energy policies of our federal Administration.
I urge everyone opposed to this reckless plan to file their opposition at regulations.gov.”
SB 834 (Jackson and Lara) will protect the California coast by prohibiting the State Lands Commission from approving any new leases for pipelines, piers, wharves, or other infrastructure needed to support new federal oil and gas development in the three-mile area off the coast that is controlled by the state.
Jackson represents the 19th Senate District, which includes all of Santa Barbara County and western Ventura County.