A group of lawmakers introduced federal legislation to ban offshore oil and gas drilling permanently across the Pacific, Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and other sensitive coastal regions. On April 10, 2025, Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives introduced a package of eight coordinated measures to ban offshore drilling, and lawmakers in the Senate introduced two bills to do the same.
Representative Salud Carbajal of Santa Barbara reintroduced the California Clean Coast Act, which would permanently prohibit future offshore oil and gas leasing in the Outer Continental Shelf off California’s coast. “Santa Barbara knows firsthand how devastating oil spills can be on our marine ecosystems and coastline,” Carbajal said in a statement. “I’m proud to lead this bill to ban future offshore oil drilling in our state and ensure California’s world-famous coastline is protected for future generations.” Carbajal first introduced this bill upon entering Congress in 2017.
Representative Mike Levin, whose district covers the California coast from Orange County to northern San Diego, reintroduced the Southern California Coast and Ocean Protection Act, which would prohibit new drilling leases from San Diego to northern San Luis Obispo County.
Representative Jared Huffman, whose district covers the northern coast of California, introduced the West Coast Ocean Protection Act of 2025, which would prohibit new oil and gas leases off the coast of California, Oregon, and Washington. In the Senate, Alex Padilla of California introduced companion legislation to the West Coast Ocean Protection Act,
Representative Jimmy Panetta of the central coast of California introduced the Central Coast of California Conservation Act of 2025. The bill would prohibit new oil and gas leasing in the Central California Planning Area, which extends from San Luis Obispo County to Santa Cruz County.