Oil flows through Santa Barbara coastal pipeline for first time in decade amid Trump fight with California

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For the first time in more than a decade, offshore oil is again flowing through a controversial network of pipelines that run from California’s Central Coast to Kern County.Following an executive order from President Trump last week, Sable Offshore Corp.

announced Monday that it resumed oil flow through pipelines that run across Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Kern counties.The infrastructure is part of an offshore oil operation that the Houston-based company has been trying to restart for more than a year.

The resumption of oil transport through the pipelines marks the latest escalation in a long-running battle between between California officials and the Trump administration over energy policy and safeguards.The network had been shuttered since 2015, when a corroded pipe burst and caused one of the state’s worst oil spills.

The so-called Santa Ynez unit was under different ownership at the time.Sable had struggled to secure necessary approvals and permits from California regulators to restart the offshore oil operation.In the process, Sable has been accused of repeatedly ignoring the directives of state and local officials, as well as criminal acts related to California environmental and coastal laws.

On Friday, Trump and Energy Secretary Chris Wright invoked the the Cold War-era Defense Production Act and said that the nation’s energy needs superseded state and local regulations.It’s a move that California officials have derided and already started to fight.

California President Trump is asserting executive authority to demand California restart controversial offshore oil drilling along its coastline amid soaring gas prices during the war with Iran.Gov.

Gavin Newsom quickly pledged legal action against the effort.On Saturday, California’s Department of Parks and Recreation demanded that Sable “immediately remove the pipeline” from where it runs through G...