Press Releases

Today, Congressman Carbajal applauded the Biden-Harris Administration’s announcement that it does not intend to sell new leases for offshore drilling on the California coast for the next five years, a priority he has pursued since his first days in Congress.

“The Central Coast knows the devastation that oil spills can bring to our community, our wildlife, and our local economies. That’s why I’m proud to see the Biden-Harris Administration confirm that it has no plans to create new California offshore drilling projects in the coming years, something I’ve pushed for since my first bill in Congress,” said Rep. Carbajal. “I’m disappointed, however, that similar limitations are not in place for other U.S. coastlines like the Gulf Coast. Oil spills pose too great a risk, and while I understand the pressing need to bring down gas prices for Central Coast families, leases approved even tomorrow will do nothing to bring down the price at the pump for years and years to come. And as Big Oil continues to underutilize current leases that they’ve held for years, there is no reason to continue putting our coastlines and marine life at risk.”

Earlier today, the Biden-Harris Administration unveiled its proposed Five-Year Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program, which confirmed the Administration has no plans to sell additional leases for offshore drilling on the California Coast for the next five years.

The proposal, which will now be open for public comment over the coming months, does include plans for new offshore leases off the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and in Alaska, something Rep. Carbajal opposes.

Congressman Carbajal has made ending new offshore oil drilling a key priority from his first days in Congress.

Earlier this year, he led a group of 62 House Democrats, including 17 members of the California delegation, in an effort to get the House Appropriations Committee to include language in the 2023 federal budget that would prohibit federal funds from being used for any new oil or gas leasing, pre-leasing, or exploration in the Outer Continental Shelf off the Pacific and other U.S. coastline.

Congressman Carbajal’s first bill introduced in Congress in 2017 was the California Clean Coast Act, which would permanently ban new oil drilling and leasing off the California Coast.

He has championed that bill in each of his terms in Congress, and in 2019 that bill was passed in the House as a part of a package of offshore drilling-related legislation.