{"id":254746,"date":"2026-04-06T22:55:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T22:55:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/254746\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T22:55:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T22:55:16","slug":"california-central-coast-oil-drilling-expansion-met-with-fury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/254746\/","title":{"rendered":"California Central Coast oil drilling expansion met with fury"},"content":{"rendered":"

Homeowners across California\u2019s Central Coast, which includes wealthy coastal enclaves like Santa Barbara, are furiously opposing plans to expand oil drilling as gas prices in hit record highs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration wants<\/a> to open up at another 850,000 acres for oil and gas development from the coast to inland areas, arguing it could boost domestic supply and ease pressure at the pump. The average price of homes on the Central Coast is $1.04 million, according to Realtor <\/a><\/p>\n

A man walks along the street as a pump jack extracts oil at a drilling site next to homes Wednesday, June 9, 2021, in Signal Hill, Calif. AP<\/p>\n

But the drilling push has sparked fierce backlash from residents and environmental activists who fear wells could creep closer to homes, schools and hospitals.<\/p>\n

California\u2019s gas prices are the highest in the nation, hitting an average of $5.93 a gallon on Monday, compared to the national average of $4.11.<\/p>\n

The state has been hit harder than most because of environmental policies that limit in-state production and discourage investment.<\/p>\n

Diesel in San Francisco hit $8 per gallon, the highest price everv recorded in any U.S. city.<\/p>\n

More than 175,000 public comments have already been filed opposing the plan, according to conservation group ForestWatch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At the center of the clash is a 2022 state law, which went into effect in 2024, that creates 3,200-foot \u201dHealth Protection Zones\u201d around homes, schools and hospitals, effectively blocking new wells across large swaths of the state.<\/p>\n

The Bureau of Land Management wants to expand oil and gas drilling. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Federal officials at the Bureau of Land Management have tried to override the restrictions, insisting expanded drilling would have no significant environmental impact and could help relieve California\u2019s tight fuel supply.<\/p>\n

But a federal court last week rejected the bureau\u2019s bid to pause the law, leaving the protections in place as the legal fight continues.<\/p>\n

Environmental groups, many of which mobilized against the expansion, hailed the decision as a major victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an important moment for our health and safety, which is under threat from the Trump administration, and we applaud the court for keeping this important protection in place,\u201d Tom\u00e1s Rebecchi, Central Coast organizing manager at Food & Water Watch, said.<\/p>\n

Critics warn drilling could threaten nearby communities across the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cOil and gas activity doesn\u2019t immediately stay within these lease boundaries,\u201d Caitlyn Bynum of San Benito County said at a bureau hearing.<\/p>\n

Gas prices in California are reaching record highs. Noah Berger for California Post<\/p>\n

\u201cOur rural hospital is on the verge of closing. Anything that would happen as a result of oil and gas coming would profoundly impact the health of our residents, and we don\u2019t have the healthcare to support them and to treat their chronic illnesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

The push comes as the Trump administration ramps up efforts to \u201dunleash American energy\u201d <\/a>amid global supply pressures tied to tensions with Iran.<\/p>\n

Supporters of drilling argue opening federal land could help ease the bottleneck and warn the state law is deterring investment.<\/p>\n

The law is \u201dan attack on the 600,000 oil and gas royalty owners in California,\u201d Ed Hazard of the National Association of Royalty Owners said at a January news conference.<\/p>\n

\u201dIf the state can take one kind of property without compensation, it can target others.\u201d<\/p>\n

California Democrats remain opposed to expanded drilling, despite soaring gas prices.<\/p>\n

\u201dLike in many prior attempts, this Administration is again failing to adequately consider the environmental impacts of drilling,\u201d California Attorney General Rob Bonta said last month.<\/p>\n

\u201dOur message has always been clear: California\u2019s ecosystems are not playgrounds for the rich.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Homeowners across California\u2019s Central Coast, which includes wealthy coastal enclaves like Santa Barbara, are furiously opposing plans to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254747,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,443,4182,8390,5875,3586],"class_list":{"0":"post-254746","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-california-headlines","10":"tag-california-news","11":"tag-climate-change","12":"tag-metro","13":"tag-oil","14":"tag-santa-barbara","15":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}