The Trump administration is proposing new oil drilling operations off the coasts of California and Florida

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday announced new oil drilling off the coasts of California and Florida for the first time in decades, boosting a project that critics say could harm coastal communities and ecosystems, as President Donald Trump seeks to expand U.S. oil production.

The oil industry is seeking access to new offshore areas, including Southern California and off the coast of Florida, as a way to boost energy security and jobs in the United States. The federal government has not allowed drilling in federal waters in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, which includes off the coast of Florida and part of the coast of Alabama, since 1995, due to concerns about oil spills. California has some offshore oil rigs, but there haven’t been any new leasing in federal waters since the mid-1980s.

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Since taking office for a second time in January, Trump has systematically reversed former President Joe Biden’s focus on slowing climate change to continue what the Republican calls America’s “energy dominance” in the global market. Trump, who recently called climate change “the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the world,” created a National Energy Governance Council and directed it to move quickly to increase U.S. energy production that is already at record levels, especially fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has blocked renewable energy sources like offshore wind and canceled billions of dollars in grants to support hundreds of clean energy projects across the country.

Even before its release, the offshore drilling plan faced strong opposition from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who is eyeing a 2028 presidential run and has emerged as a prominent Trump critic. Newsom declared the idea “dead on arrival” in a social media post. The proposal is also likely to spark bipartisan opposition in Florida. Tourism and access to clean beaches are an essential part of the economy in both states.

Plans to allow drilling off the coasts of California, Alaska and Florida

The management plan proposes six offshore leases between 2027 and 2030 in areas along the California coast.

It also calls for new drilling off the coast of Florida in areas at least 100 miles offshore that state. The area targeted for leasing is adjacent to an area in the central Gulf of Mexico that already contains thousands of wells and hundreds of drilling rigs.

The five-year plan would also mandate more than 20 lease sales off the coast of Alaska, including a newly designated area known as High Arctic, more than 200 miles offshore in the Arctic Ocean.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said when he announced the sales that it would take years for the oil from those parcels to reach the market.

“By moving forward with the development of a robust, progressive leasing plan, we are ensuring America’s marine industry remains strong, our workers stay employed, and our country remains energy dominant for decades to come,” Burgum said in a statement.

The American Petroleum Institute said in response that the announced plan was a “historic step” toward unleashing vast marine resources. Industry groups point to California’s history as an oil-producing state and say it already has the infrastructure to support more production.

Opposition from California and Florida

Sen. Rick Scott, a Republican from Florida and a Trump ally, helped persuade Trump officials to abandon a similar overseas plan in 2018 when he was governor. Last week, Scott and fellow Florida Republican Sen. Ashley Moody co-sponsored a bill to preserve the moratorium on offshore drilling in the state that Trump signed in his first term.

“As Floridians, we know how important our beautiful beaches and coastal waters are to our state’s economy, environment and way of life,” Scott said in a statement. “I will always work to keep Florida’s beaches clean and protect our natural treasures for future generations.”

A spokesman for Newsom said Trump officials had not formally shared the plan, but said that “expensive and riskier offshore drilling will put our communities at risk and undermine the economic stability of our coastal economies.”

California has been a leader in restricting offshore oil drilling since the infamous 1969 Santa Barbara spill, which helped ignite the modern environmental movement. While no new federal leases have been offered since the mid-1980s, drilling from existing platforms continues.

Newsom expressed support for greater offshore controls after the 2021 spill off Huntington Beach and supported congressional efforts to ban new offshore drilling on the West Coast.

A Texas-based company, backed by the Trump administration, is seeking to resume production in waters off Santa Barbara damaged by the 2015 oil spill. The administration has praised Houston-based Sable Offshore’s plan as the type of project Trump wants to increase U.S. energy production as the federal government removes regulatory barriers.

Trump signed an executive order on the first day of his second term rescinding Biden’s ban on future offshore oil drilling on the east and west coasts. A federal court later overturned Biden’s order to withdraw 625 million acre-feet of federal waters from oil development.

Environmental and economic concerns from oil spills

Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Alex Padilla and Rep. Jared Huffman, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, warned that opening vast coastlines to new offshore drilling would harm coastal economies, jeopardize national security, destroy coastal ecosystems, and put the health and safety of millions of people at risk.

“With this draft plan, Donald Trump and his administration are trying to destroy one of the world’s most valuable and protected coastlines and hand it over to the fossil fuel industry,” Padilla and Hoffman said in a joint statement.

A catastrophic oil spill could cost taxpayers billions in lost revenue, cleanup costs and ecosystem restoration, they said.

Joseph Gordon, campaign director for the environmental group Oceana, called the Trump administration’s latest plan an “oil spill nightmare.”

He said coastal communities “depend on healthy oceans for economic security and a cherished way of life.” “There is too much at stake to risk more horrific oil spills that will haunt our coastlines for generations to come.”