Newsom Calls Trump Offshore Oil Drilling Plan ‘Dead on Arrival’

(Bloomberg) — California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a planned Trump administration proposal to sell new oil drilling rights off the US West Coast “dead on arrival.”

The draft proposal prepared by administration officials, first reported by Bloomberg in October, sets the stage for government auctions of oil and gas leases in US Pacific waters. The administration also is set to outline potential sales of drilling rights in waters near Alaska and in the Gulf of Mexico, which was renamed the Gulf of America by President Donald Trump.

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However, Trump administration officials have now ruled out new offshore oil leasing along the US East Coast, after an initial plan for auctioning territory there drew alarm from Republican officials.

The plan is “dead on arrival in California — dead on arrival,” Newsom told reporters on the sidelines of the COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil.

It’s “interesting he didn’t put it in front of Mar-a-Lago,” Newsom added, referring to Trump’s Florida resort. “It’s disgraceful.”

White House spokespeople did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Oil companies have shown limited appetite to explore new US waters far beyond the Gulf, where they could confront political opposition as well as geological risk. However the Pacific waters near southern California have produced crude for decades — and Interior Department documents seen by Bloomberg note there is “industry interest” in fresh drilling in the region.

The Interior Department’s draft is an initial step in assembling a new five-year blueprint for selling Outer Continental Shelf oil leases from 2026 to 2031. If finalized, it would replace a program developed under former President Joe Biden that scheduled just three auctions from 2024 to 2029. The process typically begins with an expansive initial draft, with the proposal being whittled down ahead of being finalized.

The West Coast states of California, Oregon and Washington already have registered their disinterest with the Interior Department, according to the agency documents. Under federal law, Interior Department officials are supposed to consult with states and consider their views while developing the leasing plans.

Newsom, a Democratic governor who is considering a bid for the presidency in 2028, has used a visit Tuesday to the UN summit in Brazil to emphasize that US states and local governments are committed to battling climate change — even as Trump retreats from the fight.