Washington, DC – In prepared testimony submitted to a field hearing about offshore drilling to be held in San Francisco today, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) outlined her continued opposition to new offshore drilling off of California’s coastline and renewed her calls for a long-term clean energy strategy. The hearing is one of four regional field hearings organized by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to reassess the future of domestic oil and natural gas exploration.

“Offshore drilling is no quick fix,” Senator Feinstein writes in her prepared statement. “Allowing new rigs along California’s coastline would not bring down gas prices, increase energy security, or fuel our economic recovery – as the ‘drill, baby, drill’ advocates would have you believe.

In fact, new offshore drilling could jeopardize California’s thriving coastal economy, our fragile ocean ecosystem, and our goal of making a permanent shift to a cleaner and greener energy economy.

Instead, I look forward to working with [Secretary Salazar], the Administration, and my colleagues in Congress to forge a long-term energy strategy that breaks our fossil fuel habit and makes the permanent shift to renewable energy resources.”

A full copy of Senator Feinstein’s written remarks are attached as a PDF.