According to Voice of OC, more than a dozen lawsuits have been filed in the wake of the oil spill on behalf of residents, local businesses, and environmental groups. Officials are concerned Amplify will not properly cover the cost of cleanup, which is ongoing and expected to total an estimated $1.5 million or more over the course of the next year. The spill has also prompted lawmakers to act, with Huntington Beach and Laguna Beach issuing limits on off-shore drilling. During a California Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee hearing in October, state lawmakers acknowledged that banning all off-shore drilling would be extremely difficult but that something must change in the wake of the devastating oil spill. In October, California Gov. Gavin Newsom admitted that “we don’t see oil in our future” and later announced a proposed regulation to limit new oil wells and facilities from being built. The public comment period on that regulation will close Dec. 21.

The State of California is hoping to eliminate oil production by 2045 and end the sale of gas-powered new cars by 2035. Though the proposed regulation is certainly a start, it’s nowhere near the decisive action needed to ensure that oil production ramps down by the goal set by Newsom. Under the regulation, only onshore drilling would be limited and only within 3,200 feet of exclusion areas like schools, hospitals, and nursing homes. Existing wells that fall within that 3,200 feet limit would need controls meant to limit air pollution. Ultimately, solving off-shore drilling issues may fall to the federal government, as the San Pedro Bay Pipeline was built in federal waters.

In that regard, an off-shore drilling ban isn’t looking likely. Already, lawmakers appear to have nixed a provision in the Build Back Better Act to prevent any future off-shore drilling in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and in parts of the Gulf of Mexico. A Senate version of the bill removes that language altogether and it’s highly likely that it will be conspicuously absent from Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s version. You can thank committee chairman Joe Manchin for that one, as he’s repeatedly pushed back against off-shore drilling bans and any significant move towards cleaner energy, likely because he’s making his money through the coal industry and therefore easily manipulated by fossil fuel lobbyists.