Local environmental groups are pushing back against a federal proposal to open up leases for offshore oil and gas drilling off the coast of Northern California.

Last week, the proposal was announced by the Trump administration to open new offshore leases in California for the first time in decades. The planning areas include a total of 1.27 billion acres across Alaska, the Gulf of Mexico, and California, with the aim of restoring American energy dominance.

But state and federal representatives of California quickly decried the proposal, which could mean as many as six sales in Southern California alone. One lease is proposed to be located in Northern California and sold in 2029. The draft proposal doesn’t detail where the drilling would occur.

In a joint statement, 14 local environmental organizations promised to “fight like hell” in response to the proposal.

“Should the Trump Administration move forward with any offshore oil and gas development, your North Coast environmental organizations will stand together to fight like hell in opposition,” the statement said. “We urge you to join in this fight.”

While the Trump Administration similarly proposed offshore gas expansions during the first term that didn’t end in new leases in California, Tom Wheeler, executive director of Arcata-based Environmental Protection Information Center, said this doesn’t mean it will fizzle out again.

“I think that we should take this threat seriously,” he said.

The organizations are concerned about the risk of large oil spills and leaks, damage to habitat on the ocean floor, and increased pollution from machinery in Humboldt Bay. Wheeler also pointed to the impacts of fossil fuel-driven climate change on the region, like the expected shrinking of the range of redwood trees and more severe storm events.

Local groups are working to add regulations preventing auxiliary facilities for offshore drilling to put a wrench in future plans, and are looking for local municipalities to add barriers for onshore development.

“We, as enviros, are going to work with our partners in government here locally to ensure that local regulations make it difficult to ever have those onshore support facilities that are going to be necessary for offshore oil development,” said Wheeler.

He pointed to existing rules like Measure B, a Humboldt County voter measure passed in 1988, that required all onshore oil and gas support facilities be approved by a vote of the people, though the measure was not codified into law.

If the local roadblocks don’t dampen the plans, Wheeler said environmental groups will pursue lawsuits.

In anticipation of the proposal, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors narrowly passed a resolution opposing offshore drilling in October.

Wheeler said while the North Coast does not have an established offshore oil area, possibly making it less cost-effective for fossil fuel companies to drill locally, there is “a substantial oil and gas reserve right off our coast.”

Three offshore oil and gas fields in Northern California include the Eel River Basin, the Point Arena Basin and the Bodega Basin. According to the draft proposal, one lease sale was held in 1963 in Northern California, with seven exploratory wells drilled, but there were no commercial discoveries.

Critics warn drilling could hurt the economy, including costal tourism and fishing.

Harrison Ibach, president of Humboldt Fishermen’s Marketing Association, said that while “we have not really discussed it as a fleet yet,” he noted concern about any ocean impacts.

“More than anything, I think we’re very concerned about the local ocean environments and any sort of industrialization that can be inhibiting our opportunities, and inhibiting our fisheries,” he said.

The Department of the Interior said that before the program and individual lease sales are finalized, the public will have opportunities to provide input.

More information about the proposal and a link to make comments can be found at https://www.boem.gov/oil-gas-energy/national-program/national-ocs-oil-and-gas-leasing-program. The comment period begins Nov. 24 and ends Jan 23, 2026.

Sage Alexander can be reached at 707-441-0504.