{"id":80074,"date":"2026-04-18T10:43:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T17:43:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=80074"},"modified":"2026-04-18T10:43:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T17:43:02","slug":"governor-newsom-exposes-trumps-sable-offshore-pipeline-lie-one-month-of-oil-prices-have-only-gone-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=80074","title":{"rendered":"Governor Newsom exposes Trump\u2019s Sable offshore pipeline lie: one month of oil, prices have only gone up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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California court affirms state law while Trump and Wright continue to lie to the American people on behalf of Big Oil<\/em><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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What you need to know:\u00a0<\/strong>A California judge today ruled that the Trump administration\u2019s illegal order on the Sable offshore oil pipeline does not cancel out previous court rulings prohibiting the pipeline from restarting without meeting legal and safety requirements. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright promised Americans that forcing the illegal restart of this California offshore pipeline would help lower gas prices nationwide. That\u2019s a lie. This week marks one month of oil flow and gas prices are over $1 more per gallon in red states and blue states, regardless of whether they pump oil or have refineries.<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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SACRAMENTO \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Today, the Santa Barbara Superior Court ruled that Energy Secretary Chris Wright\u2019s Defense Production Act order does not nullify its injunction barring Sable Offshore Corp. from operating its pipeline without state approval. The ruling is a rebuke of the Trump administration and Sable\u2019s ploy to illegally use emergency powers to bypass California law.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cA California court just confirmed what we have said all along: Trump and his Big Oil donors are not above the law.<\/p>\n

One month into Trump\u2019s haphazard Iran war, Americans are getting zero cents of relief at the pump from Sable like Chris Wright promised, because no drop in the bucket like Sable can make up for Trump\u2019s war choking off a fifth of the world\u2019s oil supply. Meanwhile, a lawbreaking oil company is raking in the profits while Americans are paying billions more for gas at the pump.<\/p>\n

When there’s money to be made and a scapegoat to blame, Trump never lets a crisis of his own making go to waste. Not on our watch.”<\/h4>\n

\nGovernor Gavin Newsom<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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This week marks one month after the Trump administration\u00a0illegally invoked emergency powers<\/a>\u00a0to force the restart of the Sable Offshore Corp pipeline, and the results are exactly what was expected: gas prices continue to rise nationwide. Today, Americans are paying a growing $10 billion more at the pump than before Trump\u2019s reckless war began.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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A trail of nonsensical lies<\/h2>\n

On March 8, as gas prices spiked nationwide because of Trump\u2019s Iran war, Energy Secretary Wright\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0on CBS’s Face the Nation, \u201cWe have a temporary period of elevated energy prices, but it will not be long. In the worst case, this is weeks \u2014 this is not months, and it leads to a better place.\u201d Today, we know that was either a lie or grossly negligent planning.<\/p>\n

One week later, Energy Secretary Wright\u00a0appeared<\/a>\u00a0on NBC’s Meet the Press and pointed to the Sable pipeline restart as one of the actions the Trump administration was taking to bring gas prices down. “We’ve got new oil production coming on in California,” Wright said. “So lots of actions we’re taking to mitigate this price rise.”<\/p>\n

Sable promised that the project would \u201coffer Californians immediate relief at the pump by making gas more affordable.\u201d That was Sable\u2019s latest effort to mislead the public and its investors about its operations \u2014 efforts that have prompted\u00a0federal investigations<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0lawsuits<\/a>\u00a0by Sable investors.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to this month, gas prices are up more than a dollar per gallon in every single state. And this week, Secretary Wright\u00a0accidentally let the truth slip out<\/a>: \u201cWe\u2019re going to see energy prices high and maybe even rising until we get\u2026 meaningful ship traffic through the Straits of Hormuz.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump’s war with Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, trapping an estimated 20% of the global oil supply. Since oil trades at a global price, American crude sells to the highest bidder, not at a discount for American consumers. According to Bloomberg, oil from the Sable Offshore pipeline is a \u201cdrop in the bucket<\/a>.\u201d It amounts to 1\/2000th (0.05%) of total oil production, which would have no meaningful impact on lowering global oil prices. No pipeline in Santa Barbara County will make up for the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

On April 7, President Trump\u2019s own Energy Information Agency administrator\u00a0admitted<\/a>\u00a0that fuel prices will continue to rise unless there\u2019s a solution to the closure of the Strait.<\/p>\n

This week, Trump\u00a0confessed<\/a>\u00a0that gas prices \u201ccould be the same or maybe a little bit higher\u201d by November.<\/p>\n

\nA pipeline with a devastating record<\/h2>\n

The last time this pipeline operated, it was catastrophic. In 2015, 142,000 gallons of crude oil spilled onshore near Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara County, causing 21,000 gallons to flow into the Pacific Ocean. Thousands of birds and marine mammals were killed, and 138 square miles of fisheries were closed for weeks, which triggered a\u00a0$22.3 million settlement<\/a>. Tourism was hammered. Fishing families lost their livelihoods. Communities bore hundreds of millions of dollars in cleanup costs.<\/p>\n

The Sable pipeline has been offline since that spill, and it is barred by a 2020\u00a0federal court order<\/a>\u00a0from restarting absent approval of California safety inspectors. That order also\u00a0required the pipeline operator to pay<\/a>\u00a0more than $60 million for damages to the State\u2019s natural resources and penalties, and to reimburse agencies for the cost of cleaning up the coast.<\/p>\n

Under SB 237 (2025), authored by Senate President pro Tem Monique Lim\u00f3n and Assemblymember Gregg Hart, enacted with strong bipartisan support in the Legislature, and signed by Governor Newsom, any restart must meet new, more rigorous safety requirements. These requirements exist precisely because of what happened in 2015. They are not bureaucratic obstacles. They are sensible safety measures that respond to the pipeline leak in 2015 and the devastating impacts it had on California\u2019s coastal communities, wildlife and economy.<\/p>\n

In January, the State Fire Marshal in Governor Newsom\u2019s Administration, along with Attorney General Rob Bonta,\u00a0challenged<\/a>\u00a0the Trump administration\u2019s attempt to federalize these pipelines and bypass state oversight, and in a separate case in state court in Santa Barbara, a judge has issued an injunction barring Sable from restarting until all state approvals are secured and recently\u00a0denied Sable\u2019s request\u00a0<\/a>to lift that injunction. Additionally, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney has\u00a0brought criminal charges<\/a>\u00a0against Sable for alleged violations of California water-protection laws.<\/p>\n

California is taking legal action to enforce these binding court orders and state law against Sable, and to challenge the Trump Administration\u2019s unlawful reliance on emergency powers. A presidential executive order cannot override state law. Additionally, Sable currently lacks legal permission for its pipeline to cross Gaviota State Park in Santa Barbara County because its agreement with the State terminated in 2016, and Sable may not keep or operate its pipeline on State property without the State\u2019s permission.<\/p>\n

The cost of offshore oil and gas drilling: dead wildlife, devastated communities, billions of dollars in damages<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t Trump\u2019s first attempt to put California\u2019s coast at risk for the benefit of Big Oil. In January, Governor Newsom joined the governors of Oregon and Washington to\u00a0formally oppose<\/a>\u00a0Trump\u2019s plan to open the California coast to new offshore oil and gas drilling for the first time in decades. Well blowouts, pipeline ruptures, and catastrophic spills are inherent risks of offshore oil and gas drilling, not isolated incidents. These disasters cost billions of dollars, take decades to remediate, and cause devastating impacts to marine ecosystems and coastal communities that depend on a clean, sustainable ocean environment for their livelihoods. These aren\u2019t hypothetical risks. They\u2019re California\u2019s reality. A few notable, major\u00a0oil spills<\/a>\u00a0off the Golden State\u2019s coast include:<\/p>\n