For a coastal California community, an oil spill has devastating and long-lasting consequences. These catastrophes kill off tourism and local economies, destroy marine life, and disrupt fisheries and critical scientific research, costing millions in both cleanup costs and lost revenue. Many Californians will remember the Refugio State Beach oil spill of 2015 as one of the most recent and destructive examples of this devastation in their lifetime. But if Donald Trump and his big oil allies get their way, the exact same pipelines that caused that Refugio spill will be reopened — and we will take a major step backward in the fight to keep our coasts clean.
Right now, a new Texas oil company named Sable Offshore Corp. is attempting to restart the pipelines that have been dormant for the decade since the Refugio spill, but now with another decade’s worth of corrosion. Don’t be fooled — this is not an upstart company looking to chart a different path than the pipeline’s last owner, Exxon Mobil. After state and local officials, community leaders and environmental activists fought to stop Exxon Mobil from taking these pipelines back online, Exxon conveniently stepped in to loan Sable the $623 million it would need to purchase the pipelines and other oil production infrastructure.
But Exxon is not Sable’s only friend in a high place.
Just a few weeks ago, the Trump administration heralded its “significant achievement” of Sable announcing — perversely, on the anniversary of the 2015 Refugio spill — that it is restarting the pipelines and offshore oil extraction at the connected offshore platforms. A celebration that, according to the California State Lands Commission and the California Coastal Commission, wasn’t just premature but also in violation of state agency directives since the company still doesn’t have all the permits it needs to resume. That the administration would promote a “restart” that is in direct conflict with our state agencies is either willful ignorance of ongoing and unsettled litigation or a more chilling suggestion that they have no interest in abiding by a state’s rules when it comes to protecting our coastline.
As is true with much of what comes from the Trump administration, it is hard not to see this act (and its timing) as another example of petty vengeance and greed that benefits corporations and comes at the cost of local communities and working families. Donald Trump singles out states like California for their lack of perceived political support and then weaponizes the powers of the executive to cut critical infrastructure investments, open politicized investigations, illegally cancel grants for safety and prevention programs as basic as earthquake retrofits, and push projects like Sable’s that could bring real harm to Californians if they succeed.
In 2015, the Refugio spill reached as far south as southern Los Angeles County and cost hundreds of millions of dollars in both environmental cleanup costs and lost revenue for our local businesses. In addition to the profound injury to marine life, the damage of the spill stole 140,000 recreation days from California beachgoers. Local fishermen alone lost a fortune and Plains All American, the pipeline’s previous owner, was forced to pay them $184 million to settle their losses.
Another spill could be far worse. Some estimates project a future spill from the corroded pipeline could be double the size of the 2015 spill, even with the installation of improved safety valves. And all of this could happen under a president who has shown that even the worst of natural disasters — which don’t discriminate between political ideologies — are not enough of a reason to help a community in crisis.
The opposition to restarting the Refugio pipelines is coalescing from all sides. Local businesses whose success comes from our beautiful coastline are raising the alarm. City councils, tribal groups and community organizations are denouncing this dangerous threat to our shores. My colleague from Santa Barbara, Congressman Salud Carbajal, and I are working to hold the Trump administration accountable for its championing of this disaster-in-waiting. Local voices like those on the Coastal Commission, at the Environmental Defense Center and among activists like the indefatigable Julia Louis-Dreyfus, have worked to put this pipeline on the national stage. And Santa Barbara’s state senator, the newly minted President Pro Tempore Monique Limón, as well as Assemblymember Gregg Hart and others in Sacramento, are leading the charge to strengthen the safety requirements and testing regimes for these pipelines, and give Californians a clear opportunity to be heard.
But to succeed, this effort needs a critical ingredient: you.
Californians, only a handful of generations ago, stood together in the wake of the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill and created Earth Day to reflect on the importance of protecting the only planet we have. We need to mobilize again. Big Oil and Donald Trump are counting on you to stay on the sidelines. Allowing Sable to move forward would clear the way for the administration to open California’s entire offshore continental shelf to oil drilling, as his administration desires. In the face of that danger, we must alert the public to the profound risks and generate a call to action — raising the issue publicly, repeatedly, visibly, vociferously, at the local, state and federal level, demanding our elected representatives do better, do something, before calamity strikes again. We need to speak out with the same loud collective voice that created Earth Day (and later the Environmental Protection Agency) in order to keep our beaches, our coastal economies, our marine life, and our state safe from another disaster.
Sen. Adam Schiff represents California in the United States Senate, where he serves on the Environment and Public Works, Small Business, Agriculture, and Judiciary Committees.
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Ideas expressed in the piece
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Senator Schiff argues that the restart of the Refugio pipelines represents Trump’s vendetta against California, describing it as “another example of petty vengeance and greed that benefits corporations and comes at the cost of local communities and working families.” The author contends that Trump deliberately targets states lacking perceived political support and weaponizes executive powers to harm California through infrastructure cuts and dangerous projects like Sable’s pipeline restart.
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The author emphasizes the severe environmental and economic consequences of the 2015 Refugio spill, noting it reached southern Los Angeles County, cost hundreds of millions in cleanup and lost revenue, and resulted in 140,000 lost recreation days for beachgoers[1][4][6]. Additionally, local fishermen lost substantial income, with Plains All American paying $184 million to settle their losses[7].
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Schiff warns that a future spill could be catastrophically worse, with some estimates projecting it could be double the size of the 2015 incident despite improved safety valves. The author argues that the pipelines now have “another decade’s worth of corrosion” since being dormant, making them even more dangerous to restart.
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The author criticizes the financial arrangement between Exxon Mobil and Sable Offshore Corp, arguing that Exxon’s $623 million loan to Sable represents a backdoor attempt to restart operations after state and local officials successfully fought to prevent Exxon from directly reactivating the pipelines.
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Schiff calls for public mobilization similar to the response after the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill that led to Earth Day, arguing that allowing Sable to proceed would enable the Trump administration to open California’s entire offshore continental shelf to oil drilling.
Different views on the topic
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Industry supporters argue that restarting oil production will provide significant economic benefits to the region, with Jeremy Willett from Pacific Pipeline Company stating that the county has “a chance to improve our self-reliance, create jobs, and stimulate the economy—all while reducing our carbon footprint”[3].
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The Trump administration frames the pipeline restart as a national energy security achievement, with Kenneth Stevens from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement declaring that “President Trump made it clear that American energy should come from American resources” and describing the effort as turning “a decade-long shutdown into a comeback story for Pacific production”[5].
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Federal officials emphasize the safety and efficiency of the restart process, with Stevens noting that the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement “helped bring oil back online safely and efficiently — right in our own backyard” as part of the administration’s “Energy Dominance” initiative[5].
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Sable Offshore Corp maintains that it is following proper legal procedures and safety requirements, having completed anomaly repairs on the Las Flores Pipeline System as specified by the Consent Decree and successfully conducting hydrotests on seven of eight pipeline sections[2]. The company argues it is meeting all regulatory conditions for the restart.