Governor proclaims state of emergency to assist response to Southern California oil spill
Official photo of California Governor Gavin Newsom.
Oil spill originated in federal waters
– Moving to protect public health and the environment, Governor Gavin Newsom today proclaimed a state of emergency in Orange County to support the emergency response to the oil spill off the coast of Huntington Beach that originated in federal waters.
“The state is moving to cut red tape and mobilize all available resources to protect public health and the environment,” said Governor Newsom. “As California continues to lead the nation in phasing out fossil fuels and combating the climate crisis, this incident serves as a reminder of the enormous cost fossil fuels have on our communities and the environment.”
The text of today’s proclamation can be found here.
At the governor’s direction, the state has deployed personnel from the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response and the governor’s Office of Emergency Services to the incident command in Long Beach to closely coordinate with the U.S. Coast Guard, local agencies and responsible parties on the response, cleanup and mitigation of the oil spill. In addition, agencies from across the administration are on the ground actively supporting various elements of the response, including staff from California State Parks, California Volunteers, California State Lands Commission, Cal Fire and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, among others.
California has not granted new offshore leases for oil production in over 50 years and Governor Newsom has directed the California Air Resources Board to analyze pathways to phase out oil extraction by 2045. In January 2019, just after taking office, Governor Newsom opposed the Trump administration’s proposal to expand oil and gas exploration and production off of California’s coast. He urged the department of the Interior to withdraw California from further consideration for renewed offshore oil and gas development and asked the Bureau of Land Management to shelve its proposal to open new areas of public land in California for oil and gas lease sales.
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