New Legislation to Permanently Protect the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans from Offshore Drilling

22 April 2025

US Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Jack Reed (D-R.I.) announced a pair of bills to permanently protect the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans from the dangers of fossil fuel drilling. The package includes Padilla’s West Coast Ocean Protection Act, which would permanently prohibit new oil and gas leases for offshore drilling off the coast of California, Oregon, and Washington, as well as Booker and Reed’s Clean Ocean and Safe Tourism (COAST) Anti-Drilling Act, which would permanently prohibit the US Department of the Interior from issuing leases for the exploration, development, or production of oil and gas in the North Atlantic, Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Straits of Florida Planning Areas of the US Outer Continental Shelf.

This legislation comes just after the 15th anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which resulted in the deaths of 11 workers, 134 million gallons spilled into the Gulf of Mexico over 87 days, the demise of thousands of marine mammals and sea turtles, and billions of dollars in economic losses from the fishing, outdoor recreation, and tourism industries.

Representative Jared Huffman (D-Calif.-02), Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee, and Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.-06), Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, are leading companion legislation in the House for the West Coast Ocean Protection Act and the Clean Ocean and Safe Tourism (COAST) Anti-Drilling Act, respectively.

A one-pager on the West Coast Protection Act is available here.

Full text of the West Coast Protection Act is available here, and full text of the COAST Anti-Drilling Act is available here.

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