Council leaders, environmental groups and student activists urge public to submit comments by January 23 deadline, threaten lawsuits if drilling advances.
SAN DIEGO — The San Diego City Council unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday opposing the Trump administration’s proposal to expand offshore oil and gas drilling off the California coast, joining a growing chorus of opposition with just 10 days remaining for public comment.
Council President Joe LaCava and Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera were joined by environmental groups and student activists ahead of the vote, urging the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to abandon the proposal.
“We know what drilling for oil off our coastline leads to, we’ve seen it time and time again,” LaCava said, citing the devastating 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill that continues to leave tar on beaches more than 50 years later.
Sophia, a high school senior from Tierrasanta and member of Youth vs Oil, a student-led climate action campaign, told council members her generation has already accepted climate change as a present reality.
“As a young person, I’ve already accepted the reality that climate change is no longer some distant future problem. Its impacts are here, and they are real, and they are only worsening,” she said.
The resolution sends a message that San Diego refuses “to make decisions for short-term profit that sacrifice our future generations,” Sophia added.
Elo-Rivera said the proposal works against San Diego residents.
“Offshore drilling does not work for San Diegans. It works for fossil fuel corporations. Trump’s buddies that don’t live here don’t care and won’t deal with the fallout, and definitely won’t clean up the damage,” Elo-Rivera said.
Environmental advocates warn that the risks extend beyond catastrophic spills. Mitch Silverstein, California policy senior coordinator for Surfrider Foundation, said routine drilling operations dump thousands of gallons of toxic materials into the ocean, contaminating marine life and the food chain.
Silverstein disputed arguments that domestic drilling is necessary for energy independence.
“The U.S. has actually been energy independent since 2020,” Silverstein said. “This is more about handing over our coast to big oil so they can profit while keeping us dependent on the oil that we don’t really need anymore.”
If the federal government ignores California’s opposition, environmental groups are prepared to take legal action.
“The federal government cannot ignore the wants and desires and preferences of our state. And if they do that, we should sue them,” Silverstein said.
Last month, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved a similar resolution with bipartisan support, though Republican Supervisor Joel Anderson voted no, arguing that technology and safety standards have improved and that an increased oil supply would lower inflation.
Surfrider Foundation has submitted more than 16,000 letters to BOEM on behalf of residents opposing new offshore drilling.
The public comment period closes Jan. 23. After that, BOEM will review submissions and decide next steps.
For more information on submitting comments about this issue, formerly known as the 11th National OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program, click on the government’s website to submit comments.