Bipartisan Backlash Forces Trump Admin to Abandon Offshore Drilling Plan*
After suffering a bruising set of environmental attacks from the Trump administration in 2025, we are pleasantly surprised by the Trump administration’s unexpected decision to withdraw their plans to open new offshore drilling in Alaska, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and California. With this welcome news, I am reminded of a truth that has guided the Surfrider Foundation for decades: America’s coasts are not political battlegrounds—they are the beating heart of vibrant local economies, places where we come together with our shared love of our coasts and ocean, and hubs of outdoor recreation enjoyed by millions regardless of your party affiliation.
The administration’s reversal did not come easily. But in the end, the overwhelming bipartisan opposition from California, Alaska, and Florida—three of the country’s most ocean-dependent states—proved impossible to ignore.
From the beginning, Surfrider and our partners emphasized a simple, data-driven message: coastal and ocean recreation is not just a lifestyle, it is a multi-billion-dollar economic engine. In California alone, ocean-based tourism and recreation generate over $18 billion annually, part of the state's blue-ocean economy that contributes more than $40 billion annually—consistently outperforming the state's oil and gas sector by orders of magnitude. Any drilling plan that puts these sustainable businesses at risk is not just bad environmental policy; it is bad economics. Republican, Democrat, and independent leaders in the state recognized that immediately.
In California alone, ocean-based tourism and recreation generate over $18 billion annually, part of the state's blue-ocean economy that contributes more than $40 billion annually—consistently outperforming the state's oil and gas sector by orders of magnitude.
Alaska, remembering the devastation of the Exxon Valdez disaster, followed with its own opposition movement. While often portrayed as an extremely pro-extraction state, the reality on the ground is much more nuanced, as Alaska’s coastal communities have increasingly embraced recreation and tourism as cornerstones of long-term economic resilience. From Sitka’s charter fleets to the ecotourism operators in the Kenai Fjords, Alaskans know their coastline is irreplaceable natural capital. The prospect of industrializing sensitive waters galvanized bipartisan opposition as business owners and tribal communities delivered an irrefutable truth: a healthy ocean sustains livelihoods far more reliably than speculative drilling leases.
Ultimately, it was Florida’s response that tipped the national scales. No state embodies the economic importance of clean coasts more clearly. With a tourism industry worth more than $130 billion annually, powered by hundreds of millions of beach visits, Florida’s economy simply cannot absorb the risk of offshore drilling. Republican and Democratic officials alike understood that a single spill could devastate property values, destroy fisheries, and collapse the beach-driven backbone of the state’s revenue. Their resistance was swift, loud, and nearly unanimous.
By early 2026, the administration found itself in an unusual position: its proposal was opposed not by fringe environmentalists, but by governors, congressional delegations, chambers of commerce, and coastal businesses from America’s most politically diverse states. The message they delivered was unmistakable—protecting the coast is not a partisan act. It is a practical one.
Today’s reversal is a victory not only for the ocean, but for the power of community and common sense. It affirms what Surfrider staff scientists, community volunteers, and coastal advocates have long known: when people understand the true value of their coastline, they will fight to protect it. And when that fight is grounded in economic reality and shared purpose, even the most ambitious drilling plans can be turned back.
The ocean’s future remains uncertain, but this moment is proof that bipartisan coastal stewardship is not only possible—it is the path forward.
*Editor's Note: Dr. Nelsen's prediction is written from the perspective of December 2026. At the time of publication, the Trump Administration was still moving ahead with its offshore drilling plans.
