The Trump administration is blasting the state’s lawsuit against the federal government over its intervention to allow the resumption of oil production from some facilities in Santa Barbara County.
The war of words has to do with the fight over Sable Offshore Corporation resuming the use of the pipeline which ruptured on the Gaviota Coast in 2015, causing a major oil spill.
After failing to get restart approval from state regulators, the oil company turned to the federal government. The President and the U.S. Department of Energy invoked a 1950s law that allows the federal government to expedite the production of resources in a national emergency. Sable restarted the pipeline on March 14 and reports it will be moving 50,000 barrels a day by April 1.
State Attorney General Rob Bonta filed suit, saying that the federal government failed to document the emergency and that it was an effort to bypass local and state regulators.
The U.S. Department of Energy blasted the suit. In a written statement, it claimed California was prioritizing political agendas over America’s energy security. The statement claims California has adopted policies that leave U.S. military forces dependent on imported oil.
