The Trump administration via NOAA is trying to cut funding to California’s Coastal Management Program, which we desperately need as our oceans boil and oil companies further pursue offshore drilling. The Coastal Management Program (CMP) is a program created under the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, designed to protect coastal resources and marine life, ensure public access to coastal spaces, and offers the state federal consistency review to make sure that federal government decisions are aligned with the enforceable policies of the program. Attacks on the CMP can impact everything from subsea and ocean desalination to offshore drilling or other industrial projects like SpaceX, and ship speed rules, despite a number of marine mammal deaths and injuries in recent years.
Montana de Oro State Park, Morro Bay. Photo by Caty Wagner
The directive to reevaluate the CMP makes it clear that this is retaliation for the California Coastal Commission doing their job and protecting the coast from Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Their tumultuous friendship must be on-again because Trump’s NOAA created a report that "highlighted repeated concerns with California’s actions, including multiple unfounded objections to spaceport-related proposals by the U.S. Air Force. … These actions have come under fresh scrutiny as the CCC recently issued an apology to SpaceX for inappropriate comments made by its members over CEO Elon Musk’s political affiliation.”
What can be done? NOAA is taking public comments and we must make our position very clear- save the CMP! The in-person hearing is full, but you can send an email to NOAA by filling out the information to the right. They will accept email comments through August 22. Then SIGN UP HERE to give a virtual comment during their virtual hearings Aug 11-12. Share this page with your friends! Get the word out so we can get as many comments into NOAA as possible.
Please do BOTH- send the email from this page and ALSO give a virtual comment on August 11 or 12 if you can! Thank you for your work to save our coasts from a number of harms and fight back against tyranny and corporate greed!
Click here for Sierra Club California’s talking points
Click here for Surfrider’s talking points
Instructions for Virtual Public Comment
August 11 & 12, 2026 | 2–5 pm each day (Tuesday & Wednesday)
- Registration deadline: August 10, 2026, 11:59 pm PT — Register here
- Each registered participant will receive an Adobe Connect link for the meeting. Once the virtual public meeting starts, NOAA will describe the meeting logistics and provide introductory remarks. NOAA will then start the public comment part of the meeting and will call on speakers on a first come/first served basis through the raised hand function of Adobe Connect.
- Each speaker will have three minutes to speak. If a speaker does not respond when their name is called, NOAA will move to the next speaker. At the three-minute mark for each speaker, NOAA will mute that speaker. Speakers cannot allot their time to another speaker. NOAA will adjourn the meeting when all participants have spoken, or at 5 p.m. PT, whichever is earlier. NOAA retains discretion to extend the virtual public meeting if appropriate and feasible.
- Click here to watch the meetings but not give a comment- watch-only livestream link
- NOAA will record the meeting and make the written transcript available via email upon request to czma.california-evaluation@noaa.gov
- If you've never used Adobe Connect, get a quick overview: https://www.adobe.com/products/adobeconnect.html
Questions? Email Caty at caty.wagner@sierraclub.org
Thank you for taking action to save California’s coasts!
