A new year, a new administration.
We are encouraged by the changes that we have seen so far, including Biden’s move to pause new offshore oil leases and the federal legislation, the West Coast Ocean Protection Act, introduced by Senator Feinstein, which would temporarily prohibit any leases off of the Pacific coast. Congressman Huffman also introduced a companion bill in the House. EAC and other NGOs had urged the new administration to take prompt action at the end of last year.
Credit: C. Morrison, Pixabay
Richard Charter, a legendary coastal advocate and EAC partner, and Senior Fellow at the Ocean Foundation, “called the presidential order — included in a package of measures addressing climate change — ‘the biggest step in half a century toward protecting coastal resources.’”
The last four years have reminded us, we must remain vigilant. Therefore, we continue our work with the Protect the Pacific coalition to keep offshore oil off of our coast. In November, we worked with Surfrider to pass a resolution opposing offshore oil and gas drilling in the town of Fairfax, and in August advocated for a county ordinance to restrict offshore infrastructure development without a vote. Collectively, Protect the Pacific has secured 98 resolutions opposing offshore oil on the West Coast!
The environmental damaged caused by oil spills leave lasting impacts to habitat. Fifty years ago, two Standard Oil tankers collided outside the Golden Gate and dumped more than 800,000 gallons of oil into the Pacific Ocean. The tide spread thick foul-smelling oil across beaches in San Francisco and Marin counties that killed thousands of birds and damaged habitat.
Today, protecting the coast from offshore oil and gas drilling is widely supported by more than 70% of Californians. Oceana recently published an analysis that emphasized an offshore oil ban would prevent “19 Billion Tons of greenhouse gas emissions and over $720 Billion in damages.”
EAC will continue to engage in the important work to safeguard our coast and ocean from environmentally catastrophic activities and keep our community up to date.
Learn More
Fairfax resolution opposing offshore oil:
Press Clippings:
Standard Oil Tanker Collision, 50-Years Later:
