For the first time, offshore oil drilling could be coming to the Mendocino Coast. The U.S. Department of the Interior has issued a request for information as part of a new five-year offshore oil and gas leasing program — a move that could include areas within the newly designated National Marine Sanctuary. And Republican Congressmen have introduced a bill that would strip existing protections from the area.
KZYX News spoke with Richard Charter, a senior fellow at the Ocean Foundation, who said the proposal threatens regions that have been protected for decades. “The Mendocino Coast, for the first time ever really, is facing offshore oil drilling,” Charter said. “We've never seen that before.”
Charter described the effort as a “crime of opportunity” by the oil industry, which he believes is trying to take advantage of shifting federal policy. Although the Biden administration withdrew the Pacific Coast from offshore drilling consideration in January, the new request appears to ignore that action.
In an interview on January 7, the day after Biden permanently banned offshore drilling in 650 million acres of ocean, Trump vowed to undo the action. “It's ridiculous,” Trump said in an interview with Hugh Hewitt. I'll unban it immediately. I will unban it. I have the right to unban it immediately.”
Charter noted that a court ruling regarding a similar ban in Alaska waters previously affirmed a president cannot reverse a permanent withdrawal of offshore areas made by a predecessor.
In 2017, President Donald Trump issued an order reversing the designation of 128 million acres of federally owned underwater land in the Arctic and Atlantic Ocean as protected from oil and gas leasing. The League of Conservation Voters, along with other environmental activists, sued to enjoin the rollback.
On March 29, 2019, the U.S. District Court in Alaska ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, holding that the executive order exceeded the president’s authority.
Republican supporters of President Trump are also seeking to overturn Biden’s action through Congressional action. In January Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA), Congressman Wesley Hunt (R-TX), and Congressman Randy Weber (R-TX) introduced H.R. 513, the Offshore Lands Authorities Act. “The disastrous term of Biden is over, and his drilling ban will not stand. Our legislation protects American energy production, restores Congressional oversight, and places guardrails on future land withdrawals,” Higgins said in a press release announcing the bill.
The Offshore Lands Authorities Act is currently pending in the House Committee on Natural Resources. It was heard by the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources on May 20.
A public comment period on the proposal is open until June 16. More information, including how to submit comments, is available at Savemycoast.org.
