In a letter to Congress person Richard Pombo (R-California), the governor strongly objected to a federal bill that would open up California's coast to drilling. "I oppose any efforts to weaken the federal moratorium for oil and gas leasing off the coast of California, and I support efforts to make the moratorium permanent," Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wrote in a November 3 letter to Pombo, chair of the House Resources Committee. The committee passed the bill and sent it to the floor. Offshore drilling for oil and natural gas has been prohibited in California for 24 years. The freeze was in response to a large, messy oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara. The governor has opposed further oil and gas leasing in the Outer Continental Shelf off California?s coast, and urged the federal government to buy out the existing federal leases. Schwarzenegger noted high energy prices, but pointed to California's moves to increase the use of renewable power supplies and energy efficiency to slash demand of fossil fuels. He also encouraged "Congress to aggressively support policies that increase the efficiency of our energy use."