A bipartisan group of lawmakers on the state and federal levels spoke out Tuesday against plans by the Trump administration for new offshore drilling in the Golden State.
“There’s very little support for drilling on our coastline,” California Assemblymember Laurie Davies, R-Laguna Niguel, said at a news conference in Solana Beach. “If we need to support or reject offshore oil drilling in the 74th Assembly District (in Orange County), it’s not gonna be just no, it’s gonna be hell no.”
Rep. Mike Levin, D-San Juan Capistrano, called on his colleagues in Congress to pass legislation he has introduced that would prevent new leasing for the exploration, development, or production of oil or natural gas in federal waters along the Southern California coast, from San Diego to the northern border of San Luis Obispo County.
“We’re going to continue to fight this legislatively and legally, and from a communications perspective and any other tools that we’ve got in the toolkit,” Levin said.
Last week, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced a five-year plan that included proposals for six offshore leases in federal waters off the coast of California. The southern-most potential lease site would extend from San Diego to San Luis Obispo.
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