U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, and California Attorney General Rob Bonta Oct. 11, traveled to Orange County for a tour and a briefing from the Coast Guard and other emergency response officials on the investigation and response to the oil spill off the coast of Huntington Beach.
Padilla reiterated the need to end offshore drilling along California’s coast and the urgency of acting on the climate crisis.
“It is unacceptable that Californians are once again facing the devastating effects of an offshore oil spill,” said Senator Padilla. “The trade-off between oil production and environmental harm is simply not one we should be making any longer, especially given how fossil fuel emissions are exacerbating the climate crisis. Already, this oil has seeped into environmentally sensitive wetlands, endangering birds and other wildlife, and forcing the closure of beaches that are the economic engines of entire communities.”
Senator Padilla recently joined Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) in calling on Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and other involved agencies to investigate the oil spill and make public the results of the investigation and commit to clear timelines of safety regulations, such as inspections, shut-off valves and leak detection systems, in existing pipelines. Padilla is also a cosponsor of the West Coast Ocean Protection Act—a bill that would ban oil and gas drilling off the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington—and has called for this bill to be included in the Senate version of the budget reconciliation process.
Following the briefing, Senator Padilla and Attorney General Bonta answered questions from the media about their visit. Listen to the recording here: www.youtube.com/Emergency-Response-to-Huntington-Beach-Oil-Spill