The federal offshore drilling plan has triggered massive opposition, but the battle is just beginning. Join Surfrider in urging federal leaders to stop the dangerous proposal!
In late 2025, the Trump administration dropped a bombshell when it announced plans to expand offshore oil drilling to over 1.2 billion acres of U.S. ocean. The extreme proposal would open up California, Alaska, the Gulf of Mexico, including the previously protected waters off of Florida, and the Arctic Ocean to new oil and gas leasing. The plan is stunning in scale and a looming threat to our marine ecosystems, coastal communities, businesses, and quality of life.
The blowback to the drilling proposal has been swift and loud. During the recent federal comment period, over 270,000 people submitted feedback, with nearly all opposing the plan. Surfrider’s network fueled this response through inspired grassroots advocacy, organizing people’s hearings events, and generating media coverage across the U.S. From surfers to fishermen, from climate advocates to business owners, and from city councils to members of Congress, the message is clear: the federal government must cancel plans for new offshore drilling off U.S. coasts.
Santa Barbara People's Hearing of Offshore Drilling. Over a thousand people attended events throughout California organized by Surfrider and our partners.
While the comment period on the draft plan has closed, the battle is still just beginning. In the coming months, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will release the Proposed Program (2nd draft) and open a 90-day comment period before making a final decision later this year. In the meantime, BOEM has opened a separate comment period for California inviting the public (i.e., oil and gas companies) to tell them exactly where off Central & Southern California new drilling should occur. This alarming move is yet another signal of the administration’s intent.
Surfrider’s Next Steps to Protect our Coasts
To stop the administration’s plan from being finalized, Surfrider is calling on Congress to permanently protect our coasts. The radical offshore drilling proposal has achieved the increasingly rare feat of uniting Democrats and Republicans in a common cause. From Florida to California to Alaska, lawmakers from both parties are speaking out against the plan as unnecessary and out of step with most American’s interests. Surfrider is urging Congress to respond to this public opposition by passing legislation to prohibit new offshore drilling across all U.S. regions (take action).
Conch Republic Divers, Florida Keys. The Sign the Surfboard project is galvanizing business opposition to offshore drilling.
At the grassroots level, Surfrider chapters and clubs are building opposition to new offshore drilling through public education, community outreach, and passing local government resolutions. Surfrider has launched Sign the Surfboard tours in Florida and California to highlight opposition from ocean recreation, tourism, and fisheries industries that support 3.3 million jobs and contribute $250 billion to our nation’s economy each year. With our partners, Surfrider has built regional alliances representing over 60,000 U.S. businesses opposed to new offshore drilling.
Surfrider will take our message to Washington, D.C. in April during our 10th annual Coastal Recreation Hill Day. Surfrider chapter and club leaders, and outdoor industry partners will meet virtually with over 125 Senate and House offices to advocate for stronger protections for our coasts and ocean, including a prohibition on new oil and gas leasing in U.S. waters. Surfrider is also requesting meetings with the White House, Department of the Interior, and BOEM to discuss opposition to the offshore drilling plan alongside industry leaders and local elected officials.
Fox 5 San Diego: Surfrider Foundation Fights Offshore Drilling: Video Link:
What’s at Stake
Offshore drilling is a dirty and dangerous practice that endangers marine ecosystems, disrupts coastal economies, and increases the risk of devastating oil spills. The industry causes serious environmental harm through every phase of the process — from exploratory seismic blasting that harms marine animals to the routine drilling operations that pollute our ocean. On land, offshore drilling causes damage through oil refineries that release toxic pollutants and disproportionately impact lower-income and communities of color.
New oil and gas drilling also worsens the effects of climate change as our nation and world struggle to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The effects of climate change are being felt across the globe, with increasing heat, hurricanes, floods, droughts, wildfires, rising seas, and ocean acidification affecting us all. New offshore drilling could result in billions of metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere, making the U.S.’s achievement of net-zero emissions by 2050 far less likely.
The planet is overheating: new offshore drilling will damage our climate.
Make Your Voice Heard!
1) Contact your Members of Congress: Your federal representatives need to hear from you! Complete the action alert to urge your Senate and House members to pass legislation to protect all U.S. coasts from new offshore drilling.
2) Tell BOEM that California is not for sale: The agency is already inviting the oil and gas industry to tell them what areas off Central & Southern California should be opened for new offshore drilling. Visit our Surfrider California page to learn how to take action.
3) Get involved with your local Surfrider Chapter. Across the country, Surfrider chapters and student clubs are building grassroots opposition to new offshore drilling through education, advocacy, and coalition building. Click here to find your local chapter or club.