By Katie Davis
Pacific Oil Ban
As one of his final acts on January 6, out-going President Biden signed an executive order banning all new oil and gas leasing in federal waters of the Bering Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean offshore California.
The 1953 law used in the executive order does not allow for any future President to overturn the ban.
However, that didn’t stop Trump from issuing an executive order reversing the ban on January 20. Trump’s order will be litigated and will likely lose. Trump already lost a similar case in 2019 when he tried to overturn an Obama-era ban.
That said, Trump has appointed many friendly judges who have reversed other precedents. Trump could also work with Congress to overturn the ban, which would be legal.
For the time-being, our Pacific Ocean is safe from new oil leases thanks to Joe Biden.
Oily Loopholes
Sadly, a ban on new oil leases doesn’t stop the restart of oil drilling in existing leases.
A speculative startup, Sable Offshore, purchased and is eager to restart Exxon’s three shuttered offshore oil platforms, its oil processing plants, and the corroded pipeline that burst and caused the 2015 Refugio oil spill.
The Santa Barbara Board of Supervisors is considering the change of ownership from Exxon to Sable on February 25, but apart from that, it will have no real say over restart.
Last year the County denied a permit to work on the compromised pipeline, but Exxon sued, and the County settled claiming limited jurisdiction. State agencies will need to approve any restart and are expected to schedule a public meeting in Santa Barbara to explain the process.
At Sierra Club California’s prompt, I drafted a letter to Governor Newsom about this dangerous project and 130 organizations signed on, including California’s leading environmental organizations.
Oily Infamy
On Jan 23 Jane Fonda’s climate PAC sent out an alert about Sable’s efforts to restart the shuttered offshore oil platforms and corrosion-prone pipeline.
“If you’re as outraged as I am, share this story. Tell your friends and family what’s happening on California’s coast,” it said. The same day the Santa Barbara Independent published a cover story profiling our dynamo EDC lawyer, Linda Krop, who called Sable, “the biggest risk to California.” There was also a front-page story on Sable’s attempts at restart in the Washington Post recently.
Clearly, word is getting out about the largest offshore oil threat to our coast here in the Santa Barbara Channel. Stopping Sable would make news and be an act of true climate leadership.
Oil Phase Out
A major weakness in Santa Barbara County’s Climate Action Plan is that it fails to include oil and gas facilities.
After the Sierra Club and other climate activists emphasized the unfairness of this, last summer the Board of Supervisors asked staff to come back within six months with options that include oil and gas. After all, the oil deposits left in Santa Barbara County are tar-like and are incredibly polluting and energy-intensive to melt out of the ground. They are also located under our groundwater reservoirs, putting our drinking water at risk of contamination.
Given California’s goals to lower greenhouse gas pollution and phase out oil, we can’t afford new oil operations locally. Climate change is already increasing devastating wildfires, mudslides and heat damage. We need to take concerted climate action now before it gets worse. Our Board of Supervisors will be considering how to do so in March.