What is deep sea mining? 
The deep sea is the largest biome on Earth. This mysterious and hugely varied place makes up 90% of the marine environment and plays a vital role in regulating our planetary systems. However, the deep sea – and our entire planet – is threatened by the potential commencement of deep-sea mining. Learn more from the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition’s website.

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What are the risks and impacts of offshore oil and gas drilling?
Offshore oil and gas drilling is the commercial extraction and production of oil and gas from beneath the ocean seafloor. This fact sheet from NRDC reviews the significant environmental harm caused by offshore drilling; the risks and impacts to the U.S. economy and communities; and why new drilling is not needed to secure the U.S. energy supply.

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The environmental impacts of deep-sea mining. Current Biology Glover et al (2026)
A comprehensive review of the many decades of environmental research in the abyssal region of the eastern Pacific Ocean called the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), with a focus on the biodiversity baseline and the results from experimental mining or disturbance tests.

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Environmental impacts of deep sea mining: a comprehensive review of regulatory frameworks and ecological risks. Australian Centre for Geomechanics. Ashby (2026)

A new, comprehensive review of the ecological risks of deep sea mining and the regulatory frameworks needed to ensure the ocean doesn’t suffer irrecoverable loss from mining is a great one-stop-shop for those who want to learn more about this rapidly developing industry. What scientists and policy experts are learning in the high seas has implications for the California ocean should the federal government issue leases off our coast in the future. Ashby finds that deep sea mining “poses substantial and potentially irreversible threats to marine ecosystems across multiple, well-documented pathways, including habitat destruction, biodiversity loss, sediment plume generation, chemical and acoustic pollution and ecosystem-level change” and that “commercial-scale extraction is likely to generate impacts that are severe, spatially extensive and persistent over long timescales.” Santa Cruz voters should consider these findings when they vote in November on

Measure D. 

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Major Coastal Spills in California History (Orange County Coastkeeper)
A detailed timeline of the major oil spills in California history that impacted the coast, influenced how Californians feel about the fossil fuel industry, and influenced how California decision makers have regulated the industry ever since. 

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An initial spatial conflict analysis for potential deep-sea mining of marine minerals in U.S. Federal Waters. Frontiers in Marine Science Gonzalez Ortiz et al. (2023)
A first-ever geospatial analysis identifying potential spatial conflicts between marine biodiversity, ocean uses and a potential future deep sea mining industry in U.S. federal waters (including off the California coast) that have been deemed prospective mineral occurrence regions by the U.S. Geological Survey.

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California bans seabed mining in state waters (2022)
In 2022, California enacted the Seabed Mining Prevention Act (AB 1832), after the bill received unanimous and bipartisan support in the state legislature and Governor Gavin Newsom’s signature. AB 1832 prevents seabed mining for hard minerals in state waters that extend from shore to three nautical miles out, however this bill has no impact on federal waters from 3-200 miles offshore that are currently at risk from the Trump Administration.

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Yes on SC County Measure E sales tax hike; Yes on Measure D, ocean and shoreline protection (behind a paywall) Editorial Board (September 26, 2026)

The Editorial Board of the Santa Cruz Sentinel has recommended a YES vote on Measure D, alongside a recommendation that voters should also approve Measure E as well. The Sentinel cites the growing pressure from the federal administration to extract resources from the coastal ocean and the importance of updating the region’s onshore ordinance from the 1980’s. Notably, the Editorial Board states: “Vote Yes on Measure D, which is all about who gets to decide what happens on Santa Cruz’s coast”. We couldn’t agree more. 

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Coast Residents rally against offshore drilling at Big River Beach, Mendocino Voice Staff (September 27, 2026)

The community of Mendocino - along with those of Bodega Bay, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Monterey, Grover Beach, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Oceanside and San Diego turned out on Saturday, September 26 for the “Hands Across the Sand” protest. The coastwide event represents the collective pushback to federal efforts to expand offshore drilling, weaken California’s Coastal Management Program, and even potentially establish underwater data centers off the California coast. Local leaders also cited concerns over ocean and subsea desalination, underwater cables, aquaculture expansion, and faster shipping lanes. Sierra Club California stated “Coastal communities deserve protection from pollution, industrial risk, and climate impacts. California has a long history of opposing new offshore oil development, and public opposition remains strong.” 

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Supervisors move forward with ballot measure strengthening offshore drilling ordinance. Lookout Santa Cruz. Ortiz (June 9, 2026)
A comprehensive summary of the action by the Santa Cruz Board of Supervisors last summer to approve Measure D for the fall ballot. County Supervisors Justin Cummings and Kim De Serpa proposed updates to Measure A, an ordinance passed in 1986 that requires voters to approve any offshore facility over 20,000 square feet that supports offshore drilling operations. Supervisor Cummings made clear why this revision was needed: “We have renewed threats, not only around offshore drilling oil and gas, but also now with deep-sea mining.” Santa Cruz voters now have the chance to say YES to Measure D on the November ballot. 

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Trump Administration’s New Priorities Put Profits Ahead of Marine Conservation. Mother Jones. Sturgeon (August 23, 2026)
Measure D addresses the threat of nonrenewable resource extraction (oil, gas, and minerals) off the central California coast. But the federal government is engaged in a much broader assault on the ocean that sustains us all, including protections to ensure sustainable, wild-caught fisheries. NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) recently instructed the nation’s regional fisheries councils to dismantle conservation measures in favor of more economically advantageous - but ecologically damaging - fishing procedures. This puts endangered leatherback turtles in the Pacific at risk, reduces protected areas for Stellar sea lions in Alaska, and may end efforts to expand whale-friendly fishing gear designed to protect North Atlantic right whales off New England and humpback whales off California. 

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Trump's Seabed Mining Push Reaches the Atlantic. Uprise RI. MacMahonaghan (September 6, 2026)
As the federal government pushes to mine the US continental shelf off Virginia, the state of Rhode Island has taken notice. The interconnectedness of the ocean means that environmental impacts 100’s of miles away could impact the RI ocean economy. It also suggests that states that are not yet in the administration’s sights - like California - should be concerned about what is happening elsewhere in US waters. 

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A quote from the article gets to the heart of the matter: “Taken together, the executive order, the NOAA rule change, the American Samoa sale and the Virginia request describe a single pattern: a federal government methodically constructing, piece by piece, the legal architecture for a seabed-mining industry that has never operated at commercial scale anywhere on the planet, while assuring the public at each step that nothing has actually been decided.” Like Rhode Island, Santa Cruz is taking matters into its own hands with Measure D. 

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Activists press Apatang on deep-sea mining as Burgum eyes quick permits. The Guam Daily Post. Ulloa (September 18, 2026)
Deep sea miners are not yet interested in the ocean off of central California and Santa Cruz. But Santa Cruz residents must keep their eyes on what is happening elsewhere, including in the Northern Marianas Islands, a territory of the United States. Doug Berman, Secretary of the Interior, recently signaled that deep-sea mining permits could be issued “within months”, suggesting that mining activities could be allowed before the end of this year. The Interior Department oversees the newly constituted Marine Minerals Administration (MMA), which is now considering a proposed December 16 lease sale near the Mariana Trench. A group of environmental and community activists spanning the Pacific and Caribbean is pressuring Governor David M. Apatang to use his authority to slow down this federal permitting process to ensure meaningful local participation. Measure D in Santa Cruz would ensure our local voters have a mechanism to debate whether facilities to support offshore leasing are allowed, if and when the federal government decides to offer minerals off our coast as they are doing now elsewhere.

 

To stop Trump’s pillaging, ‘vote the ocean’ this fall. Guest Contributor, Los Angeles Times (behind a paywall). David Helvarg (9/1/26)
A broad overview of the federal administration’s ongoing efforts to undercut ocean policy, science, and coastal protection. David concludes: “Although the Republicans in Congress have almost all bowed completely to the Trump administration rather than representing their constituents’ interests, your choice is still not as simple as voting against one party and in favor of another. You should do your duty as a citizen, educate yourselves on the candidates you get to decide on (local, state and national) and then vote for those good people who understand the links between the ocean’s health and the health of our economies, our cultures and our very lives.” Good advice for Santa Cruz ocean lovers as they enter the polls this November. 

 

Bring back the Gulf. The Ocean Foundation.  Quiralo and Charter (2014)
An in--depth analysis of issues related to the disposition of abandoned offshore oil rigs in U.S. federal waters within the context of the greater national goal of restoring the Gulf of Mexico in the post-BP Deepwater Horizon era. Now over a decade old, this short book provides a robust overview of the scientific, environmental and sociological aspects of drilling for oil and gas in U.S. federal waters that is as relevant today along the California coast as it was in the Gulf of Mexico following the nation’s largest oil disaster in 2010.