Trump Administration Initiates Controversial Offshore Drilling Plans

Sat Nov 22 2025 16:11:19 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

The Trump administration's new five-year offshore drilling plan in California and Florida sparks opposition from environmentalists, local leaders, and residents concerned about ecological and economic impacts.

On Thursday, the Trump administration unveiled a plan to resume oil drilling off the coasts of California and Florida after decades of prohibition. This move, part of a broader push for U.S. energy dominance, has triggered substantial backlash from state leaders and environmental advocates who fear it could lead to ecological disasters and economic harm to coastal communities. Governor Gavin Newsom of California called the proposal 'dead on arrival,' while environmentalists warn that oil spills would have long-lasting negative effects on ecosystems and local economies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration announced on Thursday new oil drilling off the California and Florida coasts for the first time in decades, advancing a project that critics say could harm coastal communities and ecosystems, as President Donald Trump seeks to expand U.S. oil production.

The oil industry has been seeking access to new offshore areas, including Southern California and off the coast of Florida, as a way to boost U.S. energy security and jobs. The federal government has not allowed drilling in federal waters in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, which includes offshore Florida and part of offshore Alabama, since 1995, because of concerns about oil spills. California has some offshore oil rigs, but there has been no new leasing in federal waters since the mid-1980s.

Since taking office for a second time in January, Trump has systematically reversed former President Joe Biden’s focus on slowing climate change to pursue what the Republican calls U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market. Trump has created a National Energy Dominance Council and directed it to move quickly to drive up U.S. energy production, particularly fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and natural gas.

Even before it was released, the offshore drilling plan has been met with strong opposition from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who is eyeing a 2028 presidential run and has emerged as a leading Trump critic. Newsom pronounced the idea 'dead on arrival' in a social media post.

Plans to allow drilling off California, Alaska, and Florida’s coast

The administration’s plan proposes six offshore lease sales off the coast of California. It also calls for new drilling off the coast of Florida in areas at least 100 miles from that state’s shore. The five-year plan also would compel more than 20 lease sales off the coast of Alaska, including a newly designated area known as the High Arctic, more than 200 miles offshore in the Arctic Ocean.

Democratic lawmakers, including California Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, expressed that opening vast coastlines to new offshore drilling 'would devastate coastal economies, jeopardize our national security, ravage coastal ecosystems, and put millions of Americans’ health and safety at risk.' Oil spills not only cause irreparable environmental damage but also suppress the value of coastal homes and harm tourism economies.

Joseph Gordon, campaign director for the environmental group Oceana, called the Trump administration’s latest plan 'an oil spill nightmare,' emphasizing that coastal communities rely on healthy oceans for their economic security and quality of life, urging for the protection of coastlines from further offshore drilling.