The Trump Administration has announced its intention to expand offshore oil and gas development off the coast of California. The Department of the Interior released its “11th National Offshore Leasing Program,” which proposes as many as 34 potential offshore lease sales, covering approximately 1.27 billion acres, including six sales in California. The North Coast of California is home to three offshore oil and gas fields, including the Eel River Basin, Point Arena Basin, and the Bodega Basin. At this time it is unclear the degree to which oil and gas development is a true threat. In 2018, Trump issued a similar call for new offshore fossil fuel development, which resulted in new offshore leases in the Gulf of Mexico, although none in California. But we believe we should approach this threat as if it is serious, as we have seen the consequences of oil spills related to offshore oil and gas development in Santa Barbara in 1969 and 2015, Port Angeles in 1985, Grays Harbor in 1988, Alaska’s Prince William Sound in 1989, Coos Bay in 1999, and the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.Here’s what we can do as a community to minimize the threat to the North Coast.Keep Reading
