California’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, has filed a lawsuit against the US energy department to block the revival of the long-disputed Sable Offshore pipeline system. The pipeline, which connects the Santa Ynez offshore platform to California refineries, was restarted earlier this month by Energy Secretary Chris Wright using powers granted under a cold-war-era law invoked by President Donald Trump.
Bonta described the move as “outrageous federal overreach” and said the state would not allow it to go unchallenged. The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco federal court, alleges that Wright’s restart order violates state law, state court orders, and a settlement approved by a federal court. California is seeking a court ruling that the order violates federal law and the US Constitution, and wants to prohibit the energy department from using the order to operate the platform and pipelines.
The Santa Ynez platform was shut down after a 2015 spill that released over 100,000 gallons of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean and onto beaches near Santa Barbara. The lawsuit is the latest clash between Trump, who aims to boost domestic fossil-fuel production, and Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who has championed California’s ambitious climate agenda.
Wright’s order came amid global fuel price surges linked to the US-Israeli conflict with Iran. Sable Offshore stated it began shipping hydrocarbons from Las Flores Canyon to Pentland Station on 14 March and expects to sell 50,000 barrels per day by 1 April. Newsom criticised the move, accusing Trump of using a crisis of his own making to open California’s coast for oil industry interests.
This lawsuit follows a separate January action by California challenging the Trump administration’s reclassification of the Sable pipelines as “interstate” despite operating solely within California. That case remains pending before the ninth US circuit court of appeals.
