Environmental groups and elected officials are hosting a meeting Sunday in Eureka that aims to collect public opposition to a Trump administration plan to expand oil and gas drilling off the coast of California.Advocates say that with the plan’s public comment period open, someone needed to host a local event to garner opposition.“The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is not holding any public meetings regarding this plan. Because BOEM is not doing this, we are stepping in, kind of filling its place. Public comment is an important part of the consideration of whether or not to lease offshore drilling areas, at least according to the law,” said Tom Wheeler, executive director of Arcata’s Environmental Protection Information Center.The five-year draft plan proposal released in November includes one lease in federal waters off the coast of Northern California to be sold in 2029, along with five other sales in the state.The proposal includes opening up to 1.27 billion acres along the coast of Alaska, the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific coast. Cities, counties and elected officials have broadly expressed opposition to drilling in California.In anticipation of the proposal, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors narrowly passed a resolution opposing offshore drilling in October.The event Sunday will include North Coast representative Jared Huffman (D- San Rafael), state Assemblymember Chris Rogers (D-Santa Rosa), local officials and Assemblymember Damon Connolly (D-San Rafael).Politicians and environmental groups will detail what they’re working on to stop the plan, hear comments and rally in opposition to the plan. Environmental advocacy groups have hosted similar events along California’s coast.Wheeler hopes the event, which saw over 100 RSVP by Friday, prompts hundreds of people to sign public comments to fight back against the Trump administration’s effort.“I hope that this is part of a larger collective of resistance to this plan that ultimately results in its demise,” he said.Humboldt Waterkeeper and the Surfrider Foundation will join EPIC at the meeting.Jennifer Kalt, executive director of Humboldt Waterkeeper, remembers volunteering to clean birds after an oil spill in Humboldt Bay in the 1990s.“There’s money to rescue individual animals that have been oiled and wash them and rehabilitate them and release them, but the majority of them don’t survive the trauma of that,” she said.She said more oil and gas wells could mean spills reaching Humboldt Bay, if the Trump administration’s plan is successful.Public comments are just a piece of a puzzle as part of the pushback against offshore drilling in California. Advocates hope local and state regulations will mean hurdles in the effort they called broadly unpopular.“Whether they listen to public sentiment and elected officials in the state of California or not, there are still regulations in place,” said Kalt.If you goWhat: Town hallWhen: Sunday from 10 a.m. to noonWhere: Wharfinger building, 1 Marina Way, EurelaThe event is planned to be recorded and broadcast over Access Humboldt at a later date. RSVP at tinyurl.com/ywz3dp37The comment period ends January 23 at 8:59 p.m. PST.You can review the plan and submit comments online, or via U.S. mail by sending an envelope labeled “Comments for the 11th National OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program” to Ms. Kelly Hammerle, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (VAM-LD), 45600 Woodland Road, Sterling, VA 20166-9216. Read Original Article
