E2: AB 1448 will protect California’s coastal economy
SACRAMENTO, CA —Today, Governor Newsom signed AB 1448 into law, strengthening the state’s protections against new oil and gas drilling, and safeguarding coastal businesses from the increased risk of oil spills and its damaging effect on the economy. The Business Alliance for Protecting the Pacific Coast (BAPPC) and the business group E2 (Economy+Environment) applauds the California Legislature and Governor Newsom for their leadership in safeguarding the Californian coastal economy.
This victory doesn’t mean the fight is over. The federal government’s proposed 11th National OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program still targets California, threatening the coastal businesses that depend on a clean and healthy ocean. BAPPC and E2 celebrate California’s continued leadership while calling on the federal government to remove California — and the entire West Coast —from consideration for new offshore oil and gas leasing.
Following is a statement from Grant Bixby, Founding Member, Business Alliance for Protecting the Pacific Coast:
“I’ve personally lived through two large oil spills in Orange County. The 2021 Huntington Beach spill closed our beaches and harbors for weeks, and fisheries for months. My real estate business suffered, and many BAPPC member businesses endured shutdowns and months of revenue losses. The passing of AB1448 is another layer of protection for our coastal business community, but the fight remains.”
Bob Keefe, Executive Director, E2
“With expanded offshore oil leasing threatening coastal economies across the country, Governor Newsom has taken an important step to protect Californians from the economic and environmental devastation of a catastrophic oil spill.”
“California’s ocean economy supports hundreds of thousands of jobs and generates tens of billions of dollars. The State’s vibrant clean energy economy employs over 540,000 Californias, many times the size of the state’s oil industry. The risk of offshore oil drilling is too great, especially in California, where investment in solar, wind, and other clean energy technologies has built the largest clean energy economy in the nation.”
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E2 is a national, nonpartisan group of more than 13,000 business leaders across eight U.S. chapters who advocate for policies that are good for the economy and good for the environment. E2 members have founded or funded more than 2,500 companies, created more than 600,000 jobs, and managed more than $100 billion in venture and private equity capital. Over its 26-year history, E2 has helped pass the policies that built America’s clean energy economy: State and federal renewable energy standards that created the market for the cheapest, most abundant, fastest-to-deploy electricity available; clean vehicle standards that paved the way for hybrid and electric vehicle adoption; energy efficiency standards that save billions of dollars in energy costs every year; and federal and state policies supporting advanced biofuels and sustainable agriculture. Learn more at e2.org.