by Nick Escalada
In view of swaying sailboats moored in the Eureka Harbor, climate activists, tribal members and local fishermen overflowed the seats of a banquet hall on Jan. 18 as U.S. Congressman Jared Huffman discussed the future of their ocean.
“Every time there’s some idiot in the White House that thinks, ‘maybe this time they can do it;’ we need to put this to bed once and for all,” Huffman said. “And that means we need to legislate permanent protection for the West Coast.”
Humboldt Waterkeeper, EPIC and the Surfrider Foundation held the Offshore Oil Community Forum in the Wharfinger building this past Sunday, offering elected officials and members of the public a chance to speak their piece about their opposition to offshore drilling. In response to the Trump administration’s proposed five-year plan to lease the West Coast to private oil rigs, the environmental groups invited locals to share comments both on the building’s podium and on postcards to be sent to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
EPIC Climate Attorney Matt Simmons helped organize the forum and spoke on its importance to the decision-making process in a democratic government.
“The Trump administration decided not to take any public comment, not to hold any sort of public hearings like this, and so we knew that we as local environmental activists had to step up and put on that work,” Simmons said. “You know, do it for the federal government, because people deserve an opportunity to speak and have their voice heard and have their opposition heard.”
Jennifer Savage, the California policy associate director at Surfrider, highlighted the disastrous environmental presence of offshore drilling, particularly with its susceptibility to oil spills during extraction and transportation.
“There’s a huge impact. Hundreds, if not thousands, of birds and mammals are killed or injured from [spills],” Savage said. “The tourism economy collapses because nobody can come out to the beach. Visitorship drops. It’s this total nightmare, and it goes on and on and on. It’s not just like, ‘oh, there’s an oil spill last week, and now it’s all better.’ The impacts last for a long, long time. And so the best way to prevent oil spills is to prevent new offshore oil drilling.”
Local and state representatives took to the podium to encourage citizen action and assert their own positions against offshore drilling. Humboldt County District 3 Supervisor Mark Wilson stressed the historical effectiveness of climate activism and the need to maintain political pressure.
“This isn’t the first time that this community, along with communities up and down the coast, have had to fight offshore oil leasing,” Wilson said. “This happened in the 80s, it happened in the 90s and it’s happening again. And so it’s just crucial that everyone gets involved where they can.”
California Assemblymember Damon Connelly showed his support at the forum and laid out the further action needed to block the administration’s plan.
“There’s a public process going on right now in relation to these Trump proposals. People have the opportunity to provide public comment, so we’re encouraging everyone to do that,” Connelly said. “There’s going to be additional rallies. People need to speak out, and ultimately, we also need to go to the courts. We need to take back Congress. We need to be doing everything we know we need to be doing to continue to resist these real ill-advised proposals that are coming out of the Trump administration right now and stand up for the environment.”
You can have the Surfrider Foundation send your letter against offshore drilling by clicking the “take action” button at the top of their website and filling out the form. The Department of the Interior is inviting public comments until Friday, Jan. 23.
Nick Escalada is the normal-haired News Editor of The Lumberjack. He studies wildlife and aspires to be a nature journalist. Find him bouncing between Gist Hall and the science buildings and reach him at ne53@humboldt.edu!
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