Elected officials, health experts urge BLM to stop new oil and gas leases on public lands

California public lands belong to the people and should never be leased to polluting industries   

February 23, 2026

By Ramona Cornell du Houx

SACRAMENTO—The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is moving forward with the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statements (SEIS) and potential Resource Management Plan Amendments (RMPAs) that would open the door to new oil and gas leasing on public lands in two California regions: in the Bakersfield area and on the Central Coast. The public comment period ends March 13, 2026.

Elected Officials to Protect America (EOPA) opposes any new oil and gas lease sales on BLM lands. The BLM manages approximately 15 million acres of public land in California, which represents about 15 percent of the state's total land area. In addition to these surface acres, the BLM in California also oversees 47 million acres of subsurface mineral estate. BLM lands encompass irreplaceable natural resources, including critical wildlife habitat, sensitive desert and grassland ecosystems, cultural sites, and recreational areas across the state valued by communities who rely on tourists for their local economies. Oil and gas development fragments habitat, degrades soil and water resources, and introduces industrial infrastructure incompatible with conservation goals.

“Public lands belong to all Californians and should be managed for their ecological, cultural, and recreational values—not sacrificed for extractive industries looking to make profits. New operations on BLM land would perpetuate environmental injustices and violate California's commitment to equitable environmental protection under state law and policy.” said Angel Alfaro Carranza, Elected Officials to Protect America Energy Security Solutions Program Officer. “Communities adjacent to existing drilling operations—particularly low-income communities and communities of color in the San Joaquin Valley and Central Coast regions—experience elevated exposure to toxic air emissions, increased truck traffic, and contaminated water sources. Oil and gas development on BLM lands would disproportionately impact these frontline communities making the risk of cancer risks rise even more. Elected Officials to Protect America urges California BLM to stop new oil and gas leasing on California public lands.”

Scientists agree that in order to hold back the climate crisis which has caused the warming of the planet we must immediately transition away from fossil fuel extraction. Expanding drilling on public lands would only accelerate the climate crisis, and is contrary to California policy and the law.

Fossil fuel air pollution is responsible for 1 in 5 premature deaths worldwide.

“People have lost their lives prematurely because they were raised within or near a zip code that has oil or gas operations. It’s outrageous that the fourth largest economy in the world still has these sacrifice zones. People’s lives should always come before corporate profits,” said Ashley E. McClure, MD, Primary Care Internist, Co-Founder and Co-Director of Climate Health Now. “The Central Coast and Bakersfield regions are already facing significant air quality challenges with oil and gas extraction that contributes to emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, and methane—all of which degrade air quality and pose serious health risks including asthma, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Enough is enough. We demand an end to oil and gas leasing on BLM public lands.”

Those who suffer from illness related to fossil fuel operations the most live in environmental justice communities, known as sacrifice zones.

“Expanded oil and gas leasing poses risks to the health and livelihoods of our people. It undermines California's efforts to meet state air quality standards and our clean energy goals. Over 34,000 people in California died prematurely in 2018 from fossil fuel air pollution. Just visiting Kern County, anyone can smell the pollution in the air from oil and gas operations. People breathe it in all the time. Expanding fossil fuel infrastructure on public lands will not only endanger those who live there, it will seriously hurt the health of nearby residents,” said Felipe Perez, Fmr. Mayor, Current Council Member of Firebaugh Fresno County, EOPA Leadership Council Member. “Most victims who die prematurely from oil and gas operations live in sacrifice zones, areas where mainly people of color live. People’s lives should always come before corporate profits. We must put an end to favoring oil and gas corporations that thrive off of profits from sacrifice zones perpetuating environmental crimes. New permitting of oil and gas leases on Bureau of Land Management lands must never be allowed.”

California’s climate targets include achieving carbon neutrality by 2045 and reducing greenhouse gas emissions 85 percent below 1990 levels by 2045. New oil and gas leasing on federal lands directly undermines these goals by locking in decades of additional fossil fuel production and associated emissions.

“Elected Officials to Protect America has been fighting for environmental justice communities since 2017 in California. We gathered more than 500 signatures from elected officials from 52 counties across the state to protect the people of California against the dangers posed by oil and gas operations. Numerous California local governments have adopted policies opposing new fossil fuel development,” said Dominic Frongillo, EOPA Executive Director, Fmr. Councilmember and Deputy Supervisor Caroline, New York. “The BLM previously took our efforts and those of other organizations to heart. Since BLM’s last round of land management planning, the state has banned fracking and passed a landmark health buffer zone law to end neighborhood oil drilling (SB 1137). The BLM must give due consideration to the laws, policies, and priorities of affected states and communities, as required under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA). To date, BLM planning documents do not do so.”

Background: In July 2025, the BLM announced it will review land management plans for more than 1 million acres of public lands, including mineral rights, from the San Joaquin Valley to the San Francisco Bay, with new environmental reviews that could enable new oil and gas drilling on BLM lands. Secretary's Order 3418, "Unleashing American Energy," emphasizes development of oil, gas, coal, strategic minerals, and alternative energy resources on public lands.

BLM’s Bakersfield Field Office and Central Coast Field Office released their recommendations in January, 2026, covering potential leases in large swaths of federal public land in central and coastal California.