The Trump administration is planning to allow new oil and gas drilling off the California coast despite the objection of Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The administration's plan proposes six offshore lease sales between 2027 and 2030 along the California coast, The Washington Post reported.
"Dead on arrival," Newsom wrote on social media.
While at a climate summit in Brazil, Newsom told reporters the state would challenge the move in court once it is finalized.
"Over our dead body. Period. Full Stop," Newsom said.
"It's never going to happen."
Drilling has been prohibited in California waters since a 1969 oil spill near Santa Barbara that ruined the beaches, killed thousands of birds, damaged property, and harmed the commercial fishing industry, The New York Times reported.
There has been limited drilling in federal waters since the mid-1980s. The drilling in California would be near Santa Barbara County in the Pacific Ocean where a small amount of drilling is already occurring, two people with knowledge of the Interior Department's plans told the Times.
The Trump administration's draft proposal is probably at least a year away from final approval, and any new production would take several more years, the Post reported.
It is unknown if there would be any interest in drilling in new areas on the Pacific Coast.
Newsom had previously sent a letter to the Interior Department noting the state's "continued opposition" to fossil fuel development in California.
"Expensive and riskier offshore drilling would put our communities at risk and undermine the economic stability of our coastal economies," Tara Gallegos, a spokeswoman for Newsom said to the Times.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has also expressed his opposition to offshore drilling in the state.
"President Trump is once again taking action to line the pockets of his Big Oil friends," Bonta said. "We won't stand idly by as the president continues to ignore science."
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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