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 PresidentTrump’s March executive orderto 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 USwar with Iran.
In response to the order, Sable Offshoreresumed operationsat its Santa Ynez offshore oil platform and pipeline under federal Secretary of Energy Chris Wright.
Bonta and other California Democratshad already secureda 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 attorneytold The Postit would still continue pumping oil.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
