February 22, 2025
Contact: Ashley Eagle-Gibbs, ashley@eacmarin.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On February 21, 2025, a high-ranking member of the Trump administration confirmed it will place conditions on California wildfire aid.
While addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., presidential special envoy Richard Grenell said Donald Trump would attach strings to any relief aid sent to communities impacted by wildfires that devastated the Los Angeles region in January. Grenell did not name specific conditions, but confirmed the Trump administration was discussing possible options, including dismantling the California Coastal Commission.
In response, EAC Executive Director Ashley Eagle-Gibbs, released the following statement:
Governor Gavin Newsom needs to stand up for the California Coastal Act and the Coastal Commission, which were created through voter support in Proposition 20 nearly 50 years ago. The federal officials’ recent threat to withhold disaster funding is a cruel attack on Los Angeles residents who have already lost so much.
Trump’s assaults on the American people and the environment threaten California values and all that we have worked for. They take us backward. EAC opposes any conditioned disaster relief and these relentless attacks.
The Coastal Act is why we can access our state beaches without paying and it’s why sensitive coastal resources are protected. The Act protects public access to the coast regardless of income, background, or identity. California beaches are open to all, because of this critical bedrock law.
The Commission has been a long-time target of development interests. This time is no different.
Without the Act and the Coastal Commission to enforce it, California’s beaches will become privatized. People escaping the record-breaking inland summer heat will have nowhere to seek respite. Defunding the Act threatens to eliminate rights enshrined in the California constitution. We must all stand up to protect the Act, as EAC has done since it was enacted!
