To the dismay of everyone in California who cares about the ocean, waves, and beaches, the U.S. Department of the Interior has proposed new offshore oil and gas leasing off California’s coast – and other U.S. waters – in the next federal offshore drilling plan. Communities throughout California are rejecting this plan because the inevitable harm that offshore oil and gas development poses to human health, wildlife, ocean and coastal recreation is simply not worth the risk.
Surfrider, along with partner organizations, organized a series of “People’s Hearings” up and down the coast of California to provide a way for community members to speak up by submitting formal public comments in opposition to new offshore oil and gas drilling.
Each People’s Hearing began with an educational 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. The presentation addressed common misconceptions about offshore drilling, gas prices, and energy independence, and included the voices and perspectives of elected officials and tribal leaders, as well as stakeholders including commercial fishers, wildlife emergency responders, business owners, conservation groups, and others.
Organizers invited attendees to send feedback in ways that would become part of the official public record. Attendees filled out postcards, made comments directly on the BOEM comment portal, and the Surfrider action alert received 32,713 signatures before the comment period closed on January 23, 2026.
What’s next?
While the comment period is now closed, the battle is far from over!
Alarmingly, BOEM has now launched a new comment period inviting the public (i.e., oil and gas companies) to tell them exactly what areas off Central and Southern California should be opened for oil and gas drilling!
This is the clearest signal yet of the serious threat facing the California coast!
Surfrider urges our supporters to take further action to stop new offshore drilling.
1) Submit your comment to BOEM stating that "The entire Central & Southern California Planning Areas must be protected from oil and gas leasing due to conflicts with human uses, ecological areas, and cultural resources."
2) Contact your members of Congress to urge them to stop the Trump administration's dangerous offshore drilling plan from being finalized. (Find your Representative!)
The deadline for this new comment period is February 26th. See the links below to BOEM's comment portal and Surfrider's action alert to Congress.
BOEM Comment Period: Central California OCS Oil & Gas Leasing
BOEM Comment Period: Southern California OCS Oil & Gas Leasing
Surfrider’s Action Alert to Congress against New Offshore Drilling
People's Hearing Highlights
Here are a few highlights from the Marin, Santa Barbara and Eureka People’s Hearings that took place on January 16 and 18, one week before the public comment period on the draft plan closed:
Marin
Bay Area 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 in Sausalito on Friday evening. The room was packed with more than 160 attendees at the event organized by the Surfrider Foundation, with participation and support from the San Francisco, Marin County, Sonoma Coast, and San Mateo County Chapters and the Futureswell team.
Speakers included:
Chair Quirina Geary of the Tamien Nation,
U.S. Representative Jared Huffman,
U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (via video)
U.S. Representative Kevin Mullin (via video),
California Deputy Secretary of Federal Affairs Sara Aminzadeh
California Assemblymember Chris Rogers
California Assemblymember Damon Connolly
Marin County District Supervisor Dennis Rodoni
San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller
Janelle Kellman, former Sausalito Mayor
Maria Brown, former Superintendent of Greater Farallones and Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuaries
Sarah Bates, commercial fisher
Tomas Valdez, Azul
Adriana Guerrero and Jessica Knox, Salted Roots
April and Charley Peebler, Heirs to Our Ocean
Jeff Boehm, Marine Mammal Center
Ben Eichenberg, San Francisco Baykeeper
Irene Gutierrez, NRDC
Richard Charter, SaveMyCoast
Drew Caputo, Earthjustice
Isabel Dawson, Environmental Action Committee of West Marin
Jeff Loomans, Greater Farallones Association
Dick Ogg, commercial fisherman
Eric Sklar, California Fish & Game Commissioner
Grant Bixby, Business Alliance for Protecting the Pacific Coast
Santa Barbara
Photo Credits: Surfrider Foundation & Betsy Weber, EDC
A packed CEC Environmental Hub in downtown Santa Barbara hosted food, drinks, and music as part of this festive People’s Hearing. Over 150 people showed up to express opposition to opening up the Santa Barbara Channel, and the rest of California, to more offshore oil drilling. Inspirational speakers included Chumash members, elected officials, recreation and business stakeholders, students representing the present and the future, and a celebrity!
Big thanks to Surfrider Foundation Santa Barbara Chapter, Environmental Defense Center, Sierra Club Santa Barbara-Ventura, Society of Fearless Grandmothers, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, Oceana, UCSB Student Affairs Environmental Affairs Board, and Resources Legacy Fund for helping to make the event successful! Extra shout out to Brengrass for providing the perfect musical background for the event!!
Photo Credit: Betsy Weber, EDC
Speakers included:
U.S. Representative Salud Carbajal
Ted Danson
Mia Lopez, Land & Water Protector, Director & Cultural Educator at The SPACE, and Member of The Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation
Veronica Mendoza, Chumash lineal descendent,
California Assemblymember Gregg Hart
Santa Barbara County Supervisor Laura Capps
Santa Barbara County Supervisor Joan Hartmann
Nikki Talebi, Advocacy Co-Chair of the UCSB Environmental Affairs Board
Ethan Maday, President of Santa Barbara High School Environmental Advocacy Club
Chris Voss, Commercial Fishermen of Santa Barbara
Anupa Asokan, Fish On
Luisa Hyatt, Rincon Brewery
Holly Lohuis, Santa Barbara Channel Whale Heritage Area
Corley Kenna, Patagonia
Humboldt
More than 200 people showed up at Eureka’s Wharfinger on a Sunday morning. Hosted by Surfrider, Humboldt Waterkeeper and the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC), the event offered North Coast residents a chance to join the statewide chorus against new offshore oil and gas drilling. Partner organizations Friends of the Dunes, Friends of the Eel River and Redwood Coast Action Agency (RCAA) joined the collective effort to provide postcards and direct links to BOEM’s website to ensure everyone’s feedback – and pushback! – would count.
Speakers included:
U.S. Representative Jared Huffman,
California Assemblymember Chris Rogers
California Assemblymember Damon Connolly
Humboldt County Supervisor and Coastal Commissioner Mike Wilson
Eureka City Councilmember Leslie Castellano
Trinidad City Councilmember Bryce Kenny
Humboldt Bay Harbor, Conservation, and Recreation District Commissioner Stephen Kullmann