The 2026-2031 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas leasing program includes a proposal for six offshore oil leases along the Pacific Coast.
Now, state and local representatives are speaking out against it, including U.S. Congressman Salud Carbajal.
“In one loud voice, our coast is not for sale,” Rep. Carbajal said. "The Central Coast and California reject new offshore oil drilling. We reject prioritizing big oil business interests over our people's interests.”
KSBY news reached out to the Western States Petroleum Association and asked what it means to the oil industry to obtain new leases. In a statement, they said, “Chevron views access to federal lands and waters as a critical enabler of domestic energy exploration and potential production. We are reviewing the Proposed Plan as we continue to explore new opportunities to support our American upstream business.”
The Department of the Interior said that this is the first of three proposals that will be developed before final approval of the 2026-2031 program.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management released a map showing the six Pacific coast lease sales, with San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties falling in the Southern California section.
WATCH: Environmentalists, fishermen concerned about proposed oil drilling
Some Central Coast residents shared their feelings about it.
“I would be very much against new leases being issued for oil rigs in our area,” said Kris Davis.
“If they want to do something like that, I hope that they’ll put a lot of the money towards making sure that it’s as environmentally safe as possible,” said Cherie Newell.
Lease sales are not finalized. They still have to go through additional review, environmental analysis and public comment. The 60-day comment period will begin on Monday, November 24.
