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SC CAN Letter Against Oil Drilling etc.


The comment period on the 1st Analysis and Proposal will open on Nov. 24, 2025 for 60 days. HERE IS THE INFO to send your own – as an individual or as a group – Group letters are especially powerful.

Preferred Method: Regulations.gov Docket ID: BOEM-2025-0483 click comments to submit comments and view other comments. Feel free to use any or all of the sample letter below which was sent on behalf of Santa Cruz Climate Action Network, or write something shorter and simpler.

We are writing in strong opposition to the proposed off-shore drilling and deep sea mining along the Pacific Coast.
The Pacific coast is a scenic treasure drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. More importantly, it is an ecological buffer for marine life and an extraordinary cache for ocean discovery–in the Monterey Bay alone, a new species is discovered from the ocean floor EVERY SINGLE DAY! Both of these benefits would be destroyed by oil rigs and inevitable spills–the likes of those in 2015 and 2021–that killed grey whales, sea otters, pelicans and many other creatures important for the health of the ocean and the entire planet. We have learned through past catastrophes that there is no “safe” oil extraction within our coastal waters!
The economy of coastal cities relies on tourism which would be negatively affected. Oil rigs–however gaily lit–do not contribute to the sense of awe experienced by those visiting the coast and experiencing the vastness of the ocean, the curve of the planet and the breath of clean air.
Coastal wetlands essential to the ecosystem would also be at risk. These areas are necessary for water purification, flood protection, habitat protection and erosion control.
Commercial and recreational fishing would be threatened.
Clean energy is accelerating and already cheaper than oil/gas. Oil supplies are overabundant. By the time these wells would be productive, they would be redundant.
Most coastal counties have ordinances blocking the infrastructure necessary for offshore oil/gas production. This would necessitate significant transportation costs to any such undertakings.
The Pacific Coast has a chain of National Marine Sanctuaries which were specifically established to prevent future oil drilling. Any violation of their protected status would be a crime.

For these reasons, we demand that you not allow these leases to proceed. Be assured that there will be strenuous opposition, costing your agency, and therefore the tax payer, both time and money.

We are a 1950 member strong climate group in Santa Cruz with many powerful allies equally opposed to this ill conceived proposal.

pmseales

Preserve Our Marine Sanctuary

  1. Protect Our Coasts From Offshore Oil Drilling – sign the petition
  2. Protect the Davidson Seamount from Deep Sea Mining – see details below
  3. Another petition – from Earth Justice
  4. The Blue Wall – Protection of the Coast by Counties and Cities – see details below
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Join Surfrider in Our Effort to Stop Congress From Selling Off More of Our Ocean for New Offshore Oil & Gas Drilling 

The Trump administration is currently revising the 5-year offshore drilling plan to bring oil rigs to a coastline near you, ignoring overwhelming public opposition. The Department of Interior will soon release its offshore drilling proposal which is expected to target all major U.S. coasts. 

Our Federal leaders must stop new offshore drilling in U.S. waters — please tell Congress to protect our coasts!

Congressional leaders have introduced legislation to permanently ban new offshore oil and gas drilling off the East Coast, West Coast, Eastern Gulf of Mexico and Arctic Ocean. Passing these bills is critical to protecting our marine ecosystems, wildlife, and coastal recreation and tourism across the U.S. petition here .

2. Protect the Davidson Seamount from Deep Sea Mining

This underwater extinct volcano is home to many wonderful special creatures including the dumbo octopus and bubblegum coral. Deep sea mining would threaten these are many other creatures.

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It would also threaten the recently discovered octopus garden where hundreds of female octopi nurture their eggs in warmer water from volcanic vents.

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Deep-sea mining risks disrupting the marine food web, study warns

      By  ALEXA ST. JOHN       Updated 2:10 AM PST, November 6, 2025

Drilling for minerals deep in the ocean could have immense consequences for the tiny animals at the core of the vast marine food web — and ultimately affect fisheries and the food we find on our plates, according to a new study.

Deep-sea mining means drilling the seafloor for “polymetallic nodules” loaded with critical minerals including copper, iron, zinc and more. While not yet commercialized, nations are pursuing deep-sea operations amid rising demand for these minerals in electric vehicles and other parts of the energy transition, as well as for technology and military use.The researchers examined water and waste gathered from a deep-sea mining trial in 2022.

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3. Petition from Earth Justice

4. Blue Wall Details

The Houston Chronicle obtained leaked documents that the Trump Administration plans new offshore oil drilling off California’s coast, possibly with no environmental review and diminished public input. Presidential executive orders and legislation have also authorized seabed mining for rare earths and precious minerals, with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) regulating it in US federal waters.

Save Our Shores and Santa Cruz County elected leaders are fighting back:

1)      The OCS Local Government Coordination Program, to engage California local governments in opposition to proposed offshore oil development and seabed mining, has been re-invigorated by Santa Cruz County Supervisor Justin Cummings.

2)      Save Our Shores (SOS) will update and strengthen the ordinances for the four jurisdictions in Santa Cruz County that prohibit (City of Capitola), or require a vote of the people to approve (Santa Cruz City and County, City of Watsonville) zoning changes to allow the development of onshore facilities that support offshore oil and gas development and add language relative to onshore facilities for seabed mining. Save Our Shores will work with other local governments to update existing ordinances (see map below), and to add new ones, to fortify the blue wall. 

This work builds on the 1985-1992 SOS campaign that resulted in the adoption of 26 (a 27th, Marin County, was added in 2020) ordinances starting with the City of Santa Cruz’s Measure A in March, 1985 that received 82% of the vote, which directed the city to use its resources to fight offshore oil. Thirteen communities were sued by the Western Oil and Gas Association to overturn those ordinances, but local governments prevailed.