The Levin Letter: Why Southern California Should Reject Offshore Drilling
Few places in the country are as shaped by their coastline as our communities in South Orange County. For so many of us, the ocean defines daily life. It draws visitors, supports family businesses, sustains property values, and provides a sense of place that is impossible to replicate. When you represent these communities, you learn quickly that protecting the coastline is not an abstract environmental issue. It is a matter of economic stability, public safety, and local identity.
That understanding guides my strong opposition to new offshore drilling off the Southern California coast. The proposal now coming out of Washington would open large sections of the Pacific to new oil leasing. On the surface, it may sound like a way to increase supply or lower prices. The facts tell a different story.
Our region knows firsthand what even one offshore failure can do. Not long ago, a pipeline off the Orange County coast leaked tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil into the Pacific. The results were immediate and severe. Beaches closed, wildlife died, and fishermen stayed home. Small businesses lost revenue. Families lost access to the shoreline that brings them together. These costs were real and painful, and the effects lingered long after the oil was cleaned from the sand.
Oil production off our coast carries that same risk every single day. A single mistake or mechanical failure can disrupt lives and livelihoods across the region. For people who rely on the ocean for income, recreation, or peace of mind, those risks are not theoretical. They are lived experience.
Supporters of new offshore drilling, mostly from outside of our state, argue that California needs the oil to help lower gas prices. That claim is not supported by the numbers. Oil is traded on a global market that produces more than one hundred million barrels every day. Any new oil produced off Southern California would amount to a tiny fraction of supply. It would take many years to bring online. It would have no measurable impact on local gas prices— factors beyond the control of any one nation or president dictate the price.
At the same time, the coastline already generates tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in tourism, recreation, real estate, research, and commercial fishing. These industries are valuable precisely because the coast is clean and healthy. A single spill threatens all of that. When the costs outweigh the benefits by this much, the correct path is clear.
There is also a practical legal reality. California has long limited new offshore drilling in state waters. Federal law requires that Washington respect state coastal management plans when approving offshore energy projects. The state has every right to object when federal decisions threaten its coastline. Federal law demands that California play a meaningful role in deciding what happens off its shores.
There is a national security factor as well. The waters off Southern California support major training and testing operations for the United States Navy and Marine Corps. These activities help maintain military readiness. Offshore drilling infrastructure would compete with those operations for space, coordination, and safety. At a time when threats around the world are evolving quickly, it is unwise to introduce new obstacles into one of the military’s most vital training corridors.
For all these reasons, I introduced the Southern California Coast and Ocean Protection Act. The bill would permanently ban new offshore drilling in federal waters off our region. It protects the coastline that sustains our economy. It protects property values that families have worked hard to build. It protects the tourism and recreation industries that employ thousands of people. And it protects the natural resources that make this part of California unique.
Cities across our district have already expressed support for this legislation, and have sent letters urging Congress to act. These local governments understand the stakes and the risks. And they understand that once the coastline is damaged, the recovery is slow and costly.
I believe our South Orange County communities value practical solutions, responsible stewardship, and long-term thinking. Protecting the coastline is consistent with all of those values. It is a choice to safeguard the economy, protect military readiness, defend property values, and preserve a way of life that families have built over generations.
We will not always agree on every issue.
That is part of living in a vibrant and diverse community. But when it comes to drilling off our coast, the facts are clear, the risks are immediate, the benefits are minimal, and the costs of getting it wrong are far too high.
By: Rep. Mike Levin
Source: Picket Fence Media