California has filed a request in federal court to stop Sable Offshore Corp. from pumping oil off Santa Barbara.
It’s an escalation by state Attorney General Rob Bonta, who filed the motion Friday and announced the move on Monday.
“Sable lobbied the federal government for the illegal Wright Order as part of a campaign to short-circuit state environmental protection requirements, and Sable is now unlawfully transporting its oil through the Las Flores Pipelines,” Bonta said in a statement.
The order is in reference to President Trump’s March executive order to resume oil drilling operations off the Southern California coast, citing national energy security concerns.
The order invoked the Cold War-era Defense Production Act, stemming from concerns of limited oil supply from the US war with Iran.
In response to the order, Sable Offshore resumed operations at its Santa Ynez offshore oil platform and pipeline under federal Secretary of Energy Chris Wright.
Bonta and other California Democrats had already secured a legal victory last month when a state judge ruled Trump’s order did not override a state-level injunction that blocked the restart.
That injunction was sought by environmentalists and anti-Trump Democrats furiously claimed Trump’s order was “illegal” and that any restart needed approval by state regulators.
The pipeline was shuttered in 2015 after a spill released thousands of barrels of crude into the Pacific Ocean.
Sable’s attorney told The Post it would still continue pumping oil.
“We hopefully will convince the court that the executive order obviously supersedes the state courts’ injunction,” Jeffrey Dintzer, attorney for Sable Offshore, said.
It seems Bonta wants the federal courts to now weigh in and put a stop, arguing that the order from Wright needs to be stayed.
The Post reached out to Sable and the federal Department of Energy for further comment. Gov. Gavin Newsom cheered the legal action.
“While Donald Trump’s reckless and costly war with Iran forces families to pay more for gas and groceries, his Big Oil donors are profiting from his attempt to illegally restart the Sable pipeline,” Newsom said.
“California is demanding the court block this flagrant abuse of power.”
