CITY OF FORTBRAGG
416 N. Franklin Street, Fort Bragg, CA95437
https://www.city.fortbragg.com/
Joshua Lott
Acting Chief, Policy, Planning and Communications Division NOAA Office for Coastal Management
N/OCM
1305 East-West Highway, 10th Floor
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Mr. Lott,
I write to you with the attached, currently relevant resolution of the Fort Bragg City Council, opposing offshore drilling or exploration off the California Coast.
As stated in this resolution from 2018, unanimously passed by our City Council with robust community support, we’d like to reaffirm that:
WHEREAS, residents of the City of Fort Bragg and its visitors value our ocean and coastal waters, which provide habitat to a vast array of wildlife that depends on a healthy and clean environment and which is the backbone of our local economy; and WHEREAS, oil and gas drilling and exploration off the Pacific coast put these coastal resources, and the communities and industries that depend on them, at risk from oil spills and other damage; and WHEREAS, new federal offshore oil and gas leases have not been granted off the coast of California since 1984, yet the current federal administration is considering expanding; and WHEREAS, the state of California prohibits new oil and gas leasing in state waters due to the unacceptably high risk of damage and disruption to the marine environment; and WHEREAS, the Governor of California, the Attorney General, the State Senate, the State Lands Commission, along with several cities, have taken a stand against new federal offshore oil and gas leases in the Pacific Ocean, and several municipalities have called for a ban on offshore fracking; and WHEREAS, expanding offshore drilling, fracking and other well stimulation off the California coast will deepen the State’s dependence on fossil fuels and undermine its efforts to address climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and moving toward renewable energy; NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of the City of Fort Bragg supports a ban on new offshore oil and gas drilling, fracking, and other well stimulation in federal and State waters off the coast of California.
Sincerely,
Jason Godeke, Mayor, on behalf of the entire City Council Marcia Rafanan, Vice Mayor, Council Members, Tess Albin-Smith, Scott Hockett, Lindy Peters