More than 40 years ago, I was walking along a beach in Santa Monica with my young daughters when we came across a sign that read: “Water Polluted. No Swimming.”

My daughters looked at me, confused. They wanted to know why they couldn’t go in the water.

I didn’t have a good answer.

But I knew then that I wanted to do something about it.

That moment set me on a path that led to the fight against offshore drilling off California’s coast. I never imagined that, more than four decades later, we’d still be working to keep it at bay.

For generations, Californians have chosen to protect this coastline. Yet the federal government’s newly released plan threatens to undo that progress by once again proposing to open our waters to expanded offshore oil and gas drilling.

Over the years, I’ve watched Californians rally again and again to defend the coast we love. If there’s one lesson in all of this, it’s that progress is never permanent. Every victory has to be defended anew.

Californians don’t need to imagine what another spill would look like — we’ve lived through it. From Santa Barbara to Orange County, we’ve watched oil wash up on our shores, seen wildlife coated in crude, and witnessed beaches shut down while local businesses, fishing families and coastal communities absorbed the damage.

No parent should have to explain to a child why a pelican is soaked in oil, or why their favorite beach is suddenly closed because of another spill. I never wanted to have that conversation with my own daughters decades ago, and I shouldn’t have to have it with my grandchildren now.

The White House and oil industry often talk about energy security and cheaper gas. But even the rosiest projections show that opening California’s entire coastline to new drilling would add less than one-quarter of one percent to the global oil supply.

That wouldn’t bring down gas prices for Californians anytime soon. What it would do is scatter more rigs along our coastline and raise the odds of another catastrophic spill — one that would put our beaches, marine life and coastal economy at risk all over again.

Fortunately, Californians aren’t without options. While Washington pushes in the wrong direction, Sacramento has a chance to push back in the right one.

State lawmakers recently passed Assembly Bill 1448, legislation that would give California stronger tools to block new offshore drilling and stop old oil infrastructure from being repurposed to support fresh drilling operations. It’s a practical, common-sense measure built on a simple idea: the cheapest oil spill to clean up is the one that never happens.

Given his outspoken record on defending our coast from federal drilling proposals, Gov. Gavin Newsom should sign this bill into law without delay.

Protecting the coast isn’t a partisan cause. It’s not a Democratic priority or a Republican one — it’s a California priority.

Our coastline ranks among the great public treasures anywhere in the world. It’s where families build memories that last a lifetime, where whales pass by on their annual migrations, where surfers paddle out at dawn, where fishing crews make their living, and where millions come each year to experience something larger than themselves.

Our beaches, kelp forests and nearshore waters aren’t simply economic assets — they’re part of our identity. For generations, we’ve decided this coastline is too precious to risk. There’s no reason to change that now.

I remain hopeful.

Time after time, Californians have proven that when the coast is threatened, politics gives way to a shared commitment to protect what we cherish. I believe we’ll rise to the occasion again.

When I think back to that day on the beach, I still picture my daughters looking up at me, puzzled by that warning sign. My hope is that the next generation of parents never has to stand in front of one just like it, left to explain that it didn’t have to happen this way.

Original source: CalMatters

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