ORANGE COUNTY – Governor Gavin Newsom will travel to Orange County today for a briefing on the emergency response to the oil spill off the coast of Huntington Beach that originated in federal waters. The Governor will hold a media availability following the briefing.
Governor Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency in Orange County yesterday to support the work underway to protect public health and the environment.
WHEN: Tuesday, October 5, 2021. Members of the media may photograph the beginning of the briefing at approx. 3:00 p.m. and join the media availability at 3:30 p.m.
This event will not be livestreamed.
**NOTE: This event is open to credentialed media only, reporters interested in attending must RSVP to govpressoffice@gov.ca.gov with names of the reporters who will be in attendance for information on covering.
At the Governor’s direction, the state has deployed personnel from the Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response and the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services to the incident command in Long Beach to closely coordinate with the U.S. Coast Guard, local agencies and responsible parties on the response, cleanup and mitigation of the oil spill. In addition, agencies from across the administration are on the ground actively supporting various elements of the response, including staff from California State Parks, California Volunteers, California State Lands Commission, CAL FIRE and the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, among others.
Governor Newsom has made California a national leader on efforts to phase out the use of fossil fuels, fight the climate crisis, protect our environment and support the health of every Californian. California has not granted new offshore leases for oil production in over 50 years and Governor Newsom has directed the California Air Resources Board to analyze pathways to phase out oil extraction by 2045. Under Governor Newsom, for first time in state history the number of permits to permanently and safely close wells far exceeds the number of permits for new wells in existing oil fields. In January 2019, just after taking office, Governor Newsom opposed the Trump administration’s proposal to expand oil and gas exploration and production off of California’s coast. He urged the Department of the Interior to withdraw California from further consideration for renewed offshore oil and gas development and asked the Bureau of Land Management to shelve its proposal to open new areas of public land in California for oil and gas lease sales.
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