New leasing and drilling “inevitably” means new oil spills, which has devastated Santa Barbara in the past, said Maggie Hall, EDC’s deputy chief counsel, in a statement. She cited the 1969 Santa Barbara Oil Spill and 2015 Refugio Oil Spill as proof that “the risk is unacceptable.”

The draft plan calls for lease sales in Cook Inlet and the Arctic, as well as the Bering Sea and other regions important to the fishing industry.