The Trump administration is coming for our coastline.
The federal Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) grants coastal states the right to review and object to any project in federal waters that clashes with state policy. For five decades, CZMA has been celebrated as a bipartisan framework between coastal states and the federal government—and in California, the process has been relatively smooth through every administration, until Trump’s.
Citing what they term California’s “environmental extremism,” Trump’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) has been tasked with conducting an unprecedented investigation that could ultimately strip California of its power to block federal projects.
Experts see the investigation, framed as a performance review of the state’s coastal management practices, as a thinly veiled attempt to open California’s coast to more offshore oil drilling, more rocket launches, and possibly even floating nuclear reactors. If the federal government succeeds here, many worry it could set the stage for similar actions in other coastal states.
The LA Times wrote that California’s top environmental leaders, along with prominent elected officials, environmentalists, business coalitions, community activists, Indigenous groups, and everyday citizens packed a public hearing on August 10 where hundreds of Californians rallied against the federal overreach.
Testifying at the hearing, Third Act SoCal member Maureen Ellenberger of Santa Barbara pulled no punches: “I’m scared. Not because we haven’t built something worth protecting—we have. I’m scared because this meeting is performance theater. You’ve already decided … But I’m speaking today anyway, so there’s a record. So years from now everyone will know we fought … We will fight you in court. We will fight you in Congress. We will fight in every way we know how. We will organize. We will mobilize. This is not over. It’s just beginning.” You can find Maureen’s full statement here.
Climate Action California has drafted a petition opposing the review and defending the state’s authority. Add your name to the letter; they will submit it before the comment deadline August 22.
To increase your impact, send your own personalized email to czma.california-evaluation@noaa.gov by midnight, August 22, with this subject line: “Comments on Performance Evaluation of the California Coastal Management Program.”