Trump invokes emergency powers for CA pipeline after Iran

from Alejandro LazoCalMatters

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

The Trump administration invoked emergency powers under the Defense Production Act on Friday, ordering the restart of the Santa Ynez offshore oil rig and pipeline off the coast of Santa Barbara County, which were shut down after a spill released thousands of barrels of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean 11 years ago.

The move, which comes in response to a spike in fuel prices following the Iran conflict, prompted an immediate threat of a lawsuit from Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The order also marks the most aggressive federal intervention yet in a long-running dispute. On one side is the Trump administration and Sable Offshore Corp., a Houston-based startup trying to restart the pipeline. On the other side are California officials and environmental groups who oppose the effort.

Sable, which bought the system from ExxonMobil in 2024, told investors that production could increase from about 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day to more than 50,000 if the system restarts, sending oil to refineries in Los Angeles, Bakersfield and the Bay Area. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday evening.

A ruptured pipeline spilled crude oil onto beaches north of Goleta in May 2015. killing hundreds of birds and marine mammals and caused one of California’s worst coastal oil spills in decades.

Sable has been blocked from restarting operations by court orders requiring approval from California regulators — a requirement the Trump administration has tried to overturn.

On Friday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement that the Trump administration “remains committed to putting all Americans and their energy security first. Today’s order will strengthen America’s oil supply and restore the pipeline system vital to our national security and defense, ensuring that military installations on the West Bank have reliable energy that is critical to military readiness.”

Newsom, however, said California will sue the Trump administration over the move.

“Donald Trump started a war, admitted he was going to raise gas prices across the country and told Americans it was a small price to pay,” Newsom said. “Now he’s using this self-inflicted crisis to try what he’s wanted to do for years: open up the California coast to his friends in the oil industry so they can poison our beaches.”

“The Trump administration and Sable are defying multiple court orders, and we will see them again in court,” Newsom said.

The Department of Energy did not immediately provide CalMatters with a copy of the order. A March 3 legal opinion of the Justice Department concluded that a federal warrant under the Defense Production Act of 1950 could prevail over state law in the Sable case. He also said such an order could void a 2020 federal consent decree stemming from the 2015 Refugio spill that required approval from California’s state fire marshal before the pipeline could restart.

Earlier on Friday, the White House issued an executive order expanding and clarifying the authority of the Secretary of Energy to act under the Defense Production Act.

Environmental groups, which challenge the legality of Sable’s plans, condemned the move.

“This is an abhorrent power grab by an extremist president,” said Talia Nimmer, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, which has challenged the restart of the pipeline in state and federal court. “Trump abused this Cold War-era law just to help a Texas oil company circumvent vital state laws that protect our coastline, and Californians will pay the price.”

Nimmer said forcing the pipelines to restart would not lower gasoline prices, but would put coastal wildlife at risk of another spill. Allowing the federal government to override state law so an oil company could restart the pipelines, she said, would set a dangerous precedent. The Trump administration has long sought to expand offshore oil leasing along the West Coast, sparking fierce opposition in California.

In December, federal officials tried to shift authority over the pipeline from California regulators to Washington, D.C., when the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration ruled that the infrastructure qualified as an interstate pipeline. He issued an emergency permit approving a restart plan.

Environmental groups and the state of California challenged the move and await a decision in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

A representative for Attorney General Rob Bonta could not immediately be reached for comment Friday. After the Justice Department released its memo outlining the legal basis for the move, Bonta spokeswoman Christine Lee said the state was reviewing the development.

“The Trump administration’s desire to put oil and gas interests above our communities and a clean environment continues unabated,” Lee said Tuesday. “We are reviewing this development and cannot comment on the legal strategy.”

Last month, a Santa Barbara County Superior Court judge ordered the pipeline to remain shut downruling that the Trump administration’s earlier intervention was not enough to overturn an order requiring Sable to obtain state approvals before restarting.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.