OCEANSIDE — At the final meeting of the year, the Oceanside City Council unanimously supported a proposed federal law that would ban new offshore oil leasing or drilling operations along the Southern California coast.
The Dec. 17 decision backs the Southern California Coast and Ocean Protection Act, legislation reintroduced earlier this year by Rep. Mike Levin (D-San Juan Capistrano), which would prevent new leasing for the exploration, development or production of oil or natural gas along the Southern California coast from San Diego to the northern border of San Luis Obispo County.
Twenty-two other Democratic members of Congress have co-sponsored the bill, most of whom are from California, along with one from Virginia and one from Florida.
City Manager Jonathan Borrego reminded the City Council that its current legislative platform, adopted in 2020, includes language opposing offshore oil leasing or drilling along the Southern California coast.
“Staff understands the proposed legislation to be consistent with the city’s legislative platform and therefore recommends endorsement,” Borrego said.
Other local municipalities have also supported the bill.
On Dec. 10, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution stating the board “opposes any new or expanded offshore oil and gas drilling, and deep seabed mining, and urges federal and state decision-makers to permanently prohibit offshore drilling and deep seabed mining in all U.S. waters, including the Pacific Ocean off California.”
The board also called for Chief Administrative Officer Ebony Shelton to express support for Levin’s bill and to coordinate with Gov. Gavin Newsom, state Attorney General Rob Bonta and other Southern California counties on creating a “unified, regional response.”
In November, the Trump administration reopened access to new oil drilling off the coasts of California, Alaska, and Florida for the first time in decades.
The U.S. Department of the Interior described the move as an effort to address the nation’s “growing energy needs” and “boost United States energy independence and sustain domestic oil and gas production.”
The directive calls for the potential lease of 34 offshore drilling sites between 2026 and 2031, with 21 off the coast of Alaska, seven in the Gulf of Mexico and six along the Pacific Coast.
Salome Tash, district director for Levin’s office, said many cities in Southern California, as well as leaders across the aisle, are opposed to new offshore drilling.
“Offshore drilling puts our communities at direct risk of toxic spills that threaten our public health and our marine life, destroy habitat, and jeopardizes an economy that generates tens of billions of dollars each year,” Tash said. “Coastal communities do not want this, Democrats do not want this, Republicans do not want this.”
Supervisor Jim Desmond, a Republican who represents North County, including Oceanside, also remained opposed to offshore drilling.
Oceanside Deputy Mayor Eric Joyce said the city needed to stand up to the federal government by voicing its opposition to actions such as Trump’s offshore drilling proposal.
“Our city does not want this unequivocally,” he said. “The risks far outweigh the potential benefits in the short term. The risk of long-term damage to our ecosystems and the way of life that we all know and love is far too great.”
