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Platform Esther was first built in 1965 and is located 1.5 miles off the coast of Seal Beach. It was rebuilt in the \u201980s after sustaining major damage from a winter storm in 1983. Production officially ceased in August 2025.<\/p>\n
New leases for oil drilling off the coast haven\u2019t been approved since 1984, and past Republican presidents have worked with Democrats in protecting California\u2019s waters from drilling.<\/p>\n
But conservation efforts have faced new threats under the current and past Trump administrations, which recently revealed a proposal<\/a> to dramatically ramp up oil drilling off California\u2019s coast to increase the country\u2019s energy independence.<\/p>\n That plan will likely meet a barrage of obstacles in the form of local and state environmental regulations, with officials already expressing strong opposition.<\/p>\n But those looming threats weren\u2019t enough to dampen the enthusiasm at Platform Esther\u2019s retirement party.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really great to see agencies like the State Lands Commission taking bold steps like this to shut down oil operations in state waters,\u201d said Brady Bradshaw, a senior oceans campaigner with the Center. \u201cWe\u2019re hoping to see the state continue to fight against proposals like what\u2019s coming with the Trump administration.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n