{"id":47217,"date":"2026-03-16T10:44:29","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T17:44:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=47217"},"modified":"2026-03-16T10:44:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T17:44:30","slug":"as-his-iran-war-drives-up-oil-prices-trump-orders-restart-of-california-offshore-drilling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/03\/16\/as-his-iran-war-drives-up-oil-prices-trump-orders-restart-of-california-offshore-drilling\/","title":{"rendered":"As His Iran War Drives Up Oil Prices, Trump Orders Restart of California Offshore Drilling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Offshore<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

An offshore oil platform with Santa Cruz Island in the background is seen in Santa Barbara Channel, California. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Photo by Marli Miller\/UCG\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMandating a restart of these defective oil pipelines won\u2019t curb high gas prices, but it will put coastal wildlife at huge risk of another oil spill,\u201d one advocate said.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Olivia Rosane<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mar 14, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

State leaders and environmental advocates responded with outrage after the Trump administration<\/a> on Friday ordered the restarting of a California pipeline that caused one of the largest oil<\/a> spills in the state\u2019s history, a move that comes as oil prices have skyrocketed<\/a> following President Donald Trump\u2019s launching of an illegal war against Iran and Iran\u2019s subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Trump issued<\/a> an executive order on Friday authorizing the Department of Energy (DOE) to ramp up oil and gas development under the Defense Production Act, Energy Secretary Chris Wright ordered<\/a> Sable Offshore Corp. to restart operations on the Santa Ynez Unit and Pipeline System, which include an offshore rig and a network of offshore and onshore pipelines along the Santa Barbara coast. Among them is a pipeline that ruptured in 2015, spilling around 450,000 gallons of oil into Refugio State Beach and killing hundreds of marine mammals and sea birds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Trump's<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s Unprovoked War on Iran Triggers 10% Spike in Global Oil Prices<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Gas<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

With War on Iran, Trump Is \u2018Flooring the Gas Pedal as He Drives US Economy Over a Cliff\u2019<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCalifornians have repeatedly rejected dangerous drilling off our coast for decades,\u201d Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said<\/a> in a statement on Saturday. \u201cNow, after dragging the US into a war with Iran and driving up oil prices, the Trump administration is trying to exploit this crisis to further enrich the oil industry at the expense of our communities and our environment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his statement, Wright emphasized the defense benefits of resuming drilling, arguing that \u201ctoday\u2019s order will strengthen America\u2019s oil supply and restore a pipeline system vital to our national security and defense, ensuring that West Coast military installations have the reliable energy critical to military readiness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDirecting a private oil company to push its project through without safety checks and adherence to California laws that keep our coast safe is appalling and illegal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DOE added that \u201cSable\u2019s facility can produce approximately 50,000 barrels of oil per day, a 15% increase to California\u2019s in-state oil production, that can replace nearly 1.5 million barrels of foreign crude each month.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, far from a novel response to an unexpected emergency, the order is actually an escalation in a preexisting battle between California and the Trump administration over the future of the pipeline system. The state\u2019s Attorney General Rob Bonta sued<\/a> to stop the administration from a federal takeover of two of the pipelines in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sable also faces several lawsuits due to its attempts to restart the system after it purchased it from ExxonMobil<\/a> in 2024, and has not yet cleared all of the state permitting requirements, according<\/a> to the Center for Biological Diversity<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn its latest brazen abuse of power, the Trump administration is attempting to seize exclusive federal control over two of California\u2019s onshore pipelines,\u201d Bonta said<\/a> on social media<\/a> Friday evening. \u201cWe will not stand by as this administration continues their unlawful all-out assault on California and our coastlines, and we are reviewing all of our legal options.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

California Gov. Gavin Newsom<\/a> also spoke out against Wright\u2019s announcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTrump knew his war with Iran would raise gas prices,\u201d he wrote<\/a> on social media. \u201cNow he wants to illegally resurrect a pipeline shut down by courts and facing criminal charges. And it won\u2019t even cut prices. I refuse to let Trump sacrifice Californians, our environment, or our $51 billion coastal economy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Center for Biological Diversity noted that this order would mark the first time that the Defense Production Act was used to force an oil company to restart out-of-use Infrastructure<\/a> and to disregard the state permitting process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a revolting power grab by an extremist president. Trump is misusing this Cold War-era law just to help a Texas<\/a> oil company skirt vital state laws that protect our coastline, and Californians will pay the price,\u201d Talia Nimmer, an attorney for the center, said. \u201cMandating a restart of these defective oil pipelines won\u2019t curb high gas prices, but it will put coastal wildlife<\/a> at huge risk of another oil spill. Overriding state law to let an oil company restart pipelines sets a radically dangerous precedent. It\u2019s clear that no state is safe from Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The center also promised to push back against the order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDirecting a private oil company to push its project through without safety checks and adherence to California laws that keep our coast safe is appalling and illegal,\u201d Nimmer said. \u201cWe\u2019re exploring all legal avenues. This dangerous action should be swiftly blocked by the courts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Olivia Rosane<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Olivia Rosane is a staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An offshore oil platform with Santa Cruz Island in the background is seen in Santa Barbara Channel, California.  (Photo by Marli Miller\/UCG\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) \u201cMandating a restart of these defective oil pipelines won\u2019t curb high gas prices, but it will put coastal wildlife at huge risk of… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47217"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47217"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47218,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47217\/revisions\/47218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}