On Nov. 4, 2015, Rep. Lois Capps (CA-24) joined her West Coast colleagues in introducing legislation to permanently ban offshore drilling on the Pacific Coast.

The West Coast Ocean Protection Act would permanently protect the California, Oregon and Washington coasts by amending the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to prohibit new oil or natural gas leases in each state’s outer continental shelves and permanently protect the $44 billion coastal economies of the three states, which support nearly 650,000 jobs.

“Oil drilling is inherently a dirty and dangerous business; it is a matter of when an accident will occur not if,” said Capps. “The Plains oil spill near Santa Barbara this year served as a stark reminder of the dangers associated with transporting and drilling for oil.

“These spills and accidents endanger public health, poison local marine systems and wildlife, and inflict serious harm on our economy. That is why I am proud to be joining my colleagues in introducing this legislation to build on my longstanding efforts to prevent new offshore oil drilling along the West Coast,” she said. 
 
The West Coast Ocean Protection Act was authored by Rep. Jared Huffman (CA-02) and cosponsored by 16 members of Congress including Capps.

Earlier this month, Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Patty Murray (D-WA) introduced the Senate version of the bill.

Capps has introduced her own legislation, the California Ocean and Coastal Protection Act (H.R. 1952) to permanently ban new offshore drilling off the California Coast. She has introduced this legislation every Congress since 2006.

— C.J. Young is the press secretary for Rep. Lois Capps.