December 8: Orange County elected leaders, businesses, environmentalists, and community members spoke out loudly against the U.S. Department of Interior’s offshore oil and gas drilling proposal at a people’s hearing event in Costa Mesa on Monday evening. Over 100 people attended the event organized by Orange County Coastkeeper, Surfrider Foundation, and Oceana.
The event began with a presentation on the federal proposal to open the entire California coast, the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska, and the Arctic to new offshore oil and gas leasing with instructions on how to submit official comments to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management before the deadline on January 23, 2026. Event organizers then invited elected officials, business leaders, and other community members to provide public remarks.
Speakers included U.S. Congressmember Dave Min (47th District), U.S. Congressmember Ted Lieu (36th District), Orange County Board of Supervisor Katrina Foley, California Coastal Commissioner Ray Jackson, California Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris, Costa Mesa Councilmember Arlis Reynolds, Tribal representatives, business and community leaders, coastal recreationalists, fishers, and environmentalists.
Here are quotes from speakers and footage from the event:
“The original ancestral inhabitants of Orange County, the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians Acjachemen Nation has stewarded these sacred waters since time immemorial. The Trump administration’s reckless plan to open California’s coast to new offshore oil drilling ignores Tribal sovereignty, threatens the migration paths of whales and orcas, poisons the fish our people have harvested for thousands of years, and invites another catastrophic spill like the ones that devastated Santa Barbara in 1969 and Huntington Beach in 2021. We stand with Surfrider, Coastkeeper, Oceana, and the people of Orange County in demanding that our ocean remain protected for the generations yet to come,” said Shannon Wingfield, Tribal Secretary, Juaneño Band of Mission Indians, Acjachemen Nation.
“I hold so much gratitude to our ancestors who have cared for these lands and waters for thousands of generations while maintaining respectable, reciprocal and sustainable relationships with the sacred elements, waters, lands and all of nature. The ocean is a sacred being that must be protected at all costs. The life that salt waters support are our relatives and they deserve to live in a safe and healthy environment”, said Tina Calderon, Director of Ocean Protectors Program for Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples. “Offshore oil extraction has proven time and time again to cause more harm than the profits merit. We all know that oil spills occur frequently and cause irreparable damage. It happened in Tongva salt waters at Lukuupanga (now called Huntington Beach) and on the Chumash coast at Qasil (now called Refugio State Beach) as well as in countless other areas like what just happened in Monterey County in Esselen Tribal territory. Additionally, climate issues and pollution are exacerbated by this greedy practice. I firmly believe the proposed 5-year drilling plan is completely absurd and must be rejected. I urge people to use their voices and your votes to protect our coast.”
“As a community that has recently experienced the impacts of oil spills, Orange County understands exactly what’s at stake if new drilling is allowed off our coast,” said Michaela Coats, Southern California Regional Manager for the Surfrider Foundation. “The 2021 Amplify Energy spill in Huntington Beach closed our beaches, shut down our fisheries, killed wildlife, and harmed local businesses that rely on a healthy coastal economy. The Surfrider Foundation stands strongly against the Trump Administration’s proposed 5-year drilling plan, and our grassroots chapter network will use every tool we have to stop new drilling and safeguard the future of California’s coast for all people.”
“For more than a decade, we’ve worked with oil companies, legislators, and community activists on how to responsibly decommission California’s existing offshore rigs, so why would we add more?” said Ray Hiemstra, Associate Director of Policy and Projects at Orange County Coastkeeper. “Major oil companies have already stepped away from offshore drilling here. The risks to our environment and coastal economy are simply too great for so little benefit to Californians. From community members to business leaders, the message is clear: no new offshore drilling.”
“Opening our coast to new offshore drilling completely ignores decades long bipartisan opposition in California,” said Lisa Gilfillan, CA Field Representative with Oceana. “We all agree, drilling here is just not worth the risk. It puts hundreds of thousands of coastal jobs and our Californian way of life at risk, it threatens the military training areas that keep our country safe, and it drags us backwards from California’s commitment to a clean energy future. We should continue to bolster the green and blue economies we’ve long been working towards. To my fellow Californians, the time is now, get your comments in before January 23rd, and let’s stand up together and protect our coast from expanded offshore drilling for good.”
“Orange County witnessed firsthand the devastating and long-lasting impacts created by offshore oil drilling. The 2021 spill harmed our wetlands, wildlife, local businesses, and the health and safety of our coastal communities,” said Vice Chair Katrina Foley. “Aging offshore infrastructure often fails, endangering our economy and environment. California must invest in clean energy and coastal resilience, not expand drilling that threatens everything we work to protect. I strongly oppose any new offshore drilling and stand with our community partners as we push for a safer, sustainable future.”
“Offshore drilling would be catastrophic for California,” said U.S. Representative Dave Min. “This is not only devastating for our climate future and an eyesore for those enjoying our beautiful coastlines, it poses an unacceptably high risk of oil spills that threaten the vibrant coastal economy that generates $44 billion a year. This is a bad deal for California and we will continue to fight this.”
“When Newsom and DeSantis align on an issue, the signal couldn’t be clearer. Red state, blue state; the message is unequivocal: NO OFFSHORE DRILLING,” said Commissioner Ray Jackson with the California Coastal Commission.
“Offshore oil and gas are bad for business. Our coalition of over 65,000 businesses and 500,000 fishing families stands in opposition to expanded offshore oil and gas. Not because of the chance of a spill, but rather the certainty of it. Our businesses and livelihoods have already been harmed by multiple spills and the threat remains. Our customers, employees, and communities depend on a clean and open coastal environment. We cannot risk 95% of our coastal economy’s GDP to grant special treatment to 5%. That’s insanity, and the vast majority of Californians of all political stripes don’t support it,” said Grant Bixby, Bixby Residential Group and Founding Member of Business Alliance for Protecting the Pacific Coast (BAPPC).
