Supervisors call on county to work with state in fight against offshore drilling in San Diego

Proclaiming that San Diego is “not for sale,” the San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 Tuesday to pass a resolution opposing the Trump administration’s plans to reopen California to offshore oil drilling.

Supervisor Joel Anderson, who represents much of East County, including rural unincorporated areas, cast the lone dissenting vote on the resolution. He offered no comment on his stance.

The resolution was brought forward by board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer, whose district includes the coast from Carlsbad to Coronado, and chair pro tem Paloma Aguirre, whose district covers much of the South Bay.

Both legislators also support HR 2862, a bill by Rep. Mike Levin, D-San Juan Capistrano, whose congressional district includes part of North County. Introduced earlier this year, Levin’s bill would ban new leasing for oil or natural gas exploration, development or production in federal waters off the Southern California coast.

The Trump administration is proposing opening federal waters off the California coast to new oil drilling as soon as 2027. If successful, this would mark the first new offshore drilling approved in decades. Environmental groups, like the Surfrider Foundation, have joined county supervisors in raising concerns about Trump’s proposal, arguing that every step of the drilling process threatens the coast.

The resolution passed by supervisors also directs the county’s chief administrative officer to work with statewide political agencies and offices, including the governor and attorney general, to coordinate a unified response barring new oil drilling in San Diego coastal waters.

“The shoreline is just not scenery, it’s home for us,” said Levin in a taped statement prior to the vote. “That’s why the Trump Administration’s moves are so alarming. They want to open up the Pacific to offshore drilling calling for up to six new lease sales off California. several of them right in our backyard in Southern California. We know this is wrong.”

Aguirre said of the board’s action that “today’s vote is about protecting the people we represent.”

“Offshore drilling threatens our coastline, our economy and our health, putting San Diego directly in harm’s way,” she continued. “We have a responsibility to act because, once oil hits the water, local government – not Washington – will be the ones left to clean up the mess.”

Lawson-Remer argued that expanding offshore oil drilling “will not lower fuel prices and will certainly not protect San Diegans from the volatile fossil-fuel market. While fossil-fuel corporate executives rake in record profits, our environment, our economy and our communities will suffer.”

She added that she is “appalled by this drilling proposal that proposes to sell off our coastline to the highest bidder and “reverse decades of bipartisan opposition to offshore oil drilling.”

Michael King, a conservation organizer with the Sierra Club of San Diego, told supervisors Trump’s oil-drilling proposal “threatens our ecology, endangers our economy and attacks the way of life we cherish.”

King warned that “protecting a healthy, clean and prosperous San Diego requires more than just opposing dramatic Washington overreach. It take consistent local leadership to protect habitats and public safety and to fight for clean water and air.”

Supervisor Jim Desmond, who represents North County – and has announced a challenge to Levin for his seat – said offshore oil drilling is “not who we are.

“San Diego’s coastline is iconic, pristine and central to our identity. A single spill could devastate our beaches and cripple a multi-billion dollar segment of our economy,” he said. “We should be investing in the future of energy such as nuclear and other advanced technologies. I stand firmly with protecting San Diego’s coastline and to oppose offshore drilling.”