2026 Press Releases

Environmental Defense Center Announces New Board Leadership as It Approaches 50th Anniversary

The Environmental Defense Center (EDC), a nonprofit environmental law firm working to protect the Central Coast and the Earth’s climate, is pleased to announce its 2026 Board of Directors officers: Lauren Trujillo, President; Gerardo Ayala, Vice President; David Powdrell, Treasurer; and Toni Cordero, Secretary. EDC also extends its deep gratitude to outgoing President, Rob Tadlock, who led the Board for the past three and a half years.

Court upholds injunction against Sable pipeline restart

In a critical ruling today, a Santa Barbara County Superior Court judge refused to end an injunction preventing Sable Offshore Corp. from restarting a defective pipeline on the Central Coast without required approvals—an injunction that the company is openly violating. Judge Donna Geck also rejected Sable’s argument that an order issued by the Trump Administration in March allows the company to ignore laws or court orders that get in its way of producing oil, including a binding federal court order giving the State of California the final say over the restart of Sable’s failed pipeline.

Trump administration order declares embattled oil project exempt from state laws

In a move that experts say directly challenges the rule of law in the United States, the Trump administration today issued an order declaring that a start-up Texas oil company is exempt from any state law that conflicts with its plan to restart oil production on California’s Central Coast. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, Secretary Chris Wright cited the Cold War-era Defense Production Act to order Sable Offshore Corp. to restart three old offshore platforms and onshore facilities, including a failed pipeline responsible for one of the worst oil spills in California history just 10 years ago.

Presidential order on Sable pipeline would undermine rule of law and create public safety threat in California

This week, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a legal opinion to help Sable Offshore Corp., the Texas company trying to restart a failed oil pipeline and other old facilities on the Central Coast of California. The opinion states that the President of the United States can use the Defense Production Act to order Sable to restart production, preempting all state law requirements and approvals that Sable has so far failed to secure. The pipeline that runs from Santa Barbara to Kern County has been shut down for more than 10 years since it ruptured due to severe corrosion and caused one of the worst oil spills in state history. State regulators have told the company that the pipeline is not safe to restart without more repairs.

Court continues injunction preventing restart of defective oil pipeline in Santa Barbara County

An injunction preventing the restart of a failed oil pipeline crossing Santa Barbara County will remain in place despite the Trump Administration’s intervention on behalf of owner Sable Offshore Corp., a Superior Court judge ruled today. The ruling is another setback for Sable’s attempt to restart a major oil and gas operation on the Central Coast, including three old offshore platforms, onshore processing facilities, and the same pipeline that ruptured in 2015, causing a massive oil spill into the ocean at Refugio State Beach.

Packed house for People’s Hearing on federal plan to increase offshore oil and gas drilling