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Instead, many of these Democrats are arguing for the end of offshore drilling, but ignoring the longer term impacts of the spill, which the Coast Guard estimates leaked between 25,000-132,000 gallons of crude oil into the ocean, and growing inflation caused by the goods bottleneck. Coast Guard Capt. Rebecca Ore said Thursday that the leak is likely closer to 24,000 gallons at 588 barrels.
Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Calif., whose district covers Ventura County just north of L.A., tweeted that she is joining with her Democratic colleagues to support a federal ban on new oil leases off the California coast.
Southern California Democratic Reps. Katie Porter, Alan Lowenthal and Mike Levin announced they will hold a joint congressional hearing in Irvine next week on the oil spill. Their release did not mention a discussion of the bottlenecked supply chain issues or the environmental hazard of a fire at the port.
President Biden announced earlier this week that the Port of Los Angeles will begin operating 24 hours a day to reduce the devastating backlog resulting in the supply chain bottleneck. His administration is under fire for rising inflation, which has skyrocketed over the past year.
Biden’s Chief of Staff Ron Klain also received criticism for a recent tweet in which he referred to rising inflation as a “high class problem.”
On the other hand, Southern California Republicans have been extremely vocal on the crises engulfing their own districts.
Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., thanked Biden for taking a step to address the supply chain issue, but reiterated that southern California communities are “reeling” from the series of ongoing crises.
Container ships at the Los Angeles Port.
“Our Southern California communities are reeling from the impacts of backlogged ships at our LA and Long Beach ports, from supply chain shortages driving up inflation to the recent oil spill that may have been caused by a ship anchor,” said Kim.
Kim’s office said that the congresswoman has been working since January to safely keep the ports open and “boost the flow of goods in and out of the San Pedro Port Complex.”
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Another Southern California Republican, Rep. Michelle Steel, urged the Biden administration to approve a Major Disaster Declaration she requested over a week ago.
“I am glad the Administration is finally acting on this issue and now it’s time to approve the Major Disaster Declaration I asked for more than a week ago. The backlog in our ports has caused ships to idle off our coastline for weeks, which may have contributed to the oil spill that devastated our community. I urge the President to approve this request and applaud these efforts to get these ships moving quickly and out of our coastal waters,” said Steel.
