At least 65 cities and counties in the US State of California have joined forces to oppose President Donald Trumps plan to expand offshore drilling in federal waters, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) said in a news release on Tuesday.
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th August, 2018) At least 65 cities and counties in the US State of California have joined forces to oppose President Donald Trumps plan to expand offshore drilling in Federal waters, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) said in a news release on Tuesday.
"California communities reject offshore drilling and are building a wall of opposition to Trumps reckless agenda. Its inspiring to watch community leaders rise up to protect the Pacific from dangerous drilling," CBD organizer Blake Kopcho said in the release. "We wont let Trump and his corrupt cronies pollute our coastline with oil spills and toxic fracking chemicals."
The CBD said the movement to protect the Pacific Ocean gained momentum after the Trump administration released a draft leasing plan in January that proposes lease sales in almost all federal waters.
The last offshore lease in federal waters off California was issued in 1984, according to the CBD, but Trumps order seeks to renew the leasing program.
At present, there are more than 30 offshore drilling platforms and islands; and hundreds of miles of underwater oil and gas pipelines off the coast of California.
On January 4, the US Department of the Interior said it wanted to open up to 90 percent of the Outer Continental Shelf and more than 98 percent of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources in federally-controlled offshore areas for future exploration and development.
