For Immediate Release

The Trump administration has announced their disastrous five-year plan to expose almost all our nation’s coastal waters to offshore drilling, putting California’s coastline under threat for offshore drilling for the first time in 30 years. This plan could have major consequences for marine wildlife, including sea otters, whales, sea lions, shorebirds and fish.

Elected officials, scientists, concerned citizens and others will gather in Sacramento to rally support in opposition to the Trump drilling plan. Available for comment will be Kim Delfino, the California program director for Defenders of Wildlife. Kim has been with Defenders since 2000 and has been instrumental in promoting wildlife conservation on agricultural and ranch lands, helping to establish regional conservation planning and protecting California’s coastal waters.

What:

Rally against offshore drilling in California!

Who:

Elected officials speaking at the rally include Controller Betty Yee, California Sens. Hannah-Beth Jackson and Ricardo Lara, and Assemblymembers Monique Limon and Al Muratsuchi. 

When:

Thursday, February 8 from 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm PST. The rally will kick off at 1:30pm with speakers from the state legislature and California nonprofits, followed by the march to a public hearing on the five-year plan that’s being held by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).

Where:

North Steps of State Capitol

1100 L Street, Sacramento, CA 95814; Hearing in Tsakopoulos Library Galleria (828 I Street).

Why:

Allowing precious coastal ecosystems in California to be sold off to oil and gas developers would be devastating to wildlife and humans. Offshore drilling would increase the risk for serious environmental disasters like the Santa Barbara oil spills in 1969 and 2015. We know from history that oil and the Pacific Ocean don’t mix. Oil spills in these waters would devastate wildlife, coastal communities and the local economy.

 

For more information, please contact:

Rebecca Bullis, 202-772-0295, rbullis@defenders.org 

For nearly 80 years, Defenders of Wildlife has worked to protect and restore America’s wildlife at risk of extinction, advancing a vision of a future in which wildlife thrives, sustained by broad public support and a resilient network of healthy lands and waters. With a network of more than 2 million supporters, Defenders is an advocate for innovative solutions to safeguard wildlife for generations to come. To learn more, please visit https://defenders.org/newsroom or follow us on Instagram @defendersofwildlife.  

 

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