The Trump administration is seeking to reopen federal waters off California to new oil and gas leasing and reignite a long-simmering fight with Florida Republicans over drilling along that state’s Gulf Coast.
The proposed five-year schedule for offshore oil and gas leasing released Thursday represents the most expansive plan in decades. It includes sales off the California coast, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the Arctic waters off of Alaska, including in an area of the High Arctic previously untouched by oil drilling.
The plan’s offering of new leases in California waters looks designed to antagonize Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential 2028 presidential contender who in recent months has sought to moderate his position on fossil fuel production. Newsom has called the administration’s move to open new waters off the California coast to drilling “dead on arrival.”
