'Californias coast is not for sale.' State battles Trump plan to limit coastal oversight

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Set us as preferred In a striking demonstration of support, hundreds of fired up Californians rallied in Santa Monica to speak out against the Trump administration’s attempt to wrest local control over the state’s beloved coastline.The Golden State’s top environmental leaders, along with prominent elected officials, environmentalists, business coalitions, community activists, Indigenous groups and everyday citizens, packed a public hearing Monday before the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Coastal Management, which has been tasked with conducting an unprecedented investigation that could ultimately strip California of its power to say no to federal projects.Experts see the investigation — framed as a performance review of the state’s coastal management practices — as a thinly veiled attempt by Trump officials to open California’s coast to more offshore oil drilling, more rocket launches and possibly even floating nuclear reactors.If the federal government succeeds, many worry it could set the stage for similar actions in other coastal states.“I’m scared, not because we haven’t built something worth protecting — we have.

I’m scared because this meeting is performance theater.In some ways, the decision seems already made,” said Maureen Ellenberger, a resident of Santa Barbara who said she is haunted by the possibility of another oil spill.

“But I’m speaking today anyway, so there’s a record.So years from now… everyone will know we fought, that we did not consent.”Citing California’s “environmental extremism,” Trump officials are attempting to decertify the state’s authority under the federal Coastal Zone Management Act, or CZMA.

The act grants coastal states the right to review and object to any project in federal waters that clashes with state policy.For...