Across the country, communities in Alaska, California, and the Gulf are facing a renewed push to expand offshore oil and gas drilling. California has not seen a federal lease sale in more than 40 years, but the federal government is now considering waters off Southern California for new leasing, with a potential sale as early as 2027. This is part of a federal government proposal that targets over 1.2 billion acres of U.S. ocean for new offshore drilling.
While the Department of the Interior oversees the federal leasing program, Congress can play an important role in shaping its future by pressing the administration to remove proposed lease sales.
That’s why, earlier this month, Surfrider joined local leaders and coastal advocates in Dana Point to launch a new billboard campaign urging members of the community to tell Congress: no new offshore drilling off the California coast. Surfrider has installed seven billboards in Orange and San Diego Counties for the month of September to raise public awareness and mobilize grassroots action.
The event, held at the corner of Doheny Park Road and Victoria Boulevard, brought together Surfrider CEO Chad Nelsen, BAPPC founding member Grant Bixby, and Shannon Wingfield, Tribal Secretary, Juaneño Band of Mission Indians of the Acjachemen Nation, to highlight what’s at stake for California’s coast—and why it matters for ocean-lovers across the country.
For Wingfield, protecting the ocean is about more than protecting a beautiful coastline.
“This is not scenery to us. This is family, this is memory, this is the crux of who we are. We are the ocean people. So when we say Drilling is Killing, we are not speaking in a metaphor. We are speaking from experience. Every oil spill, every leaking pipeline, every drop of crude that has ever touched this coast has touched us first because our identity as a Acjachemen people is inseparable from a healthy ocean,” Wingfield said.
Whether Californians encounter the campaign on the road, at the coast, or on their phones, they’ll see the same message: TELL CONGRESS NO OIL DRILLING OFF OUR COAST.
The Southern California campaign comes amid a larger national debate over the future of offshore drilling in U.S. waters.
The Department of the Interior is currently developing the 11th National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program—the federal government’s five-year plan for where it will offer offshore areas for oil and gas leasing. The Draft Proposed Program released in November 2025 proposes 34 potential offshore lease sales: 21 in Alaska, seven in the Gulf, and six along the Pacific Coast. While the proposal is not final and requires additional rounds of analysis and public comment before it is approved, potential lease sales in Central and Southern California could begin as early as 2027.
For Californians who have experienced the consequences of offshore oil development firsthand, those plans represent a dangerous setback in coastal energy policy.
“We know from experience that when we drill, we spill,” Bixby said. “Today, we are on the cusp of the federal government releasing a new five-year offshore drilling plan with all of California in the crosshairs. They are attacking our state’s ability to manage our own coastline, ignoring our state laws, the will of the people, and destroying states’ rights and local control.”
The consequences extend beyond the immediate risks of spills and pollution. California’s clean and accessible coastline supports businesses, jobs, recreation, tourism, fisheries, and communities up and down the state.
“Offshore oil is bad for business, and it’s a terrible business plan for California,” Bixby said. “People from all parts of our beautiful state, throughout the country, and all over the world come to California to experience our scenic, abundant, clean, and open coastline. So no more spills. No more killing of marine life. No more closures of our beaches, harbors, and fisheries. Let’s keep California open for business.”
California is just one front in a national fight, as decisions made through the federal five-year planning process will help determine where offshore oil and gas leasing happens in the years to come.
But there is hope, and Surfrider’s message is simple: Congress has the power to stand up for California’s coast and oppose new offshore oil and gas leasing. As the federal government considers opening California’s coast to new drilling, Californians have an opportunity to make clear that our ocean and coastal communities are not for sale.
With this campaign, Surfrider is making sure that decision makers hear it directly from the Southern California communities they represent. To urge your congressional representatives to oppose offshore drilling, please complete Surfrider’s action alert today.
No new offshore drilling off California’s coast.