Press Room

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

Santa Barbara County court hearing reveals setback in Sable Offshore Corp. plans to restart failed oil pipeline

EDC Statement on court order denying stay requested to halt immediate restart of Sable pipeline

Today, the Ninth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals denied a stay that was requested in an emergency lawsuit and would have prevented Sable Offshore Corporation’s immediate restart of the notorious oil pipeline on California’s Central Coast.  The case is still moving forward, and the judge issued an expedited briefing schedule. 

The Environmental Defense Center (EDC), the Center for Biological Diversity, and their clients filed the emergency lawsuit on Christmas Eve to halt the Trump administration’s rushed approval for restart of the defective pipeline that ignored federal laws requiring public input and an environmental review. 

EDC and partners file emergency lawsuit to halt Trump administration approval of Sable pipeline restart plan

The Environmental Defense Center, the Center for Biological Diversity, and their clients filed an emergency lawsuit to halt the Trump administration’s rushed approval for restart of a defective oil pipeline system on the Central Coast. The lawsuit filed in the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit asks for a stay to prevent the immediate restart of the pipeline, which has been shut down for 10 years since it ruptured due to severe corrosion and caused one of the worst oil spills in state history. The Texas-based Sable Offshore Corp. is attempting to restart the pipeline and other old production equipment on the Gaviota Coast, including three offshore platforms.

Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors Vote for Final Denial of Oil Permits for Sable Offshore Corp.

The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors denied the transfer of permits to Sable Offshore Corp., the company seeking to restart oil and gas facilities formerly owned by ExxonMobil on the Central Coast of California. Yesterday’s vote was the final denial of Sable’s application to take over the permits, concluding more than a year of county hearings on the transfer. Under County law, Sable cannot operate its onshore facilities—including the pipeline—without these permits. Supervisors cited Sable’s track record in Santa Barbara County, which includes an unprecedented $18 million dollar penalty from the Coastal Commission, a state Attorney General lawsuit, and numerous notices of violation from several state agencies related to Sable’s large-scale unpermitted excavation work. Regulators say that work did significant damage to habitats and waterways along the pipeline route.  

Environmental Groups Condemn CA Coastal Commission Decision to Extend Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant for Another 20 Years

Environmental Defense Center Opposes Trump Administration’s Plan to Open up Santa Barbara Channel to New Oil Drilling

Today, the Environmental Defense Center (EDC) announced its strong opposition to the U.S. Department of Interior’s newly released Oil and Gas Leasing Draft Proposed Program (“the Draft Program”) that includes federal waters off the entire West Coast including fragile regions such as the Santa Barbara Channel. This plan threatens California’s coastal resources, local economies, wildlife, commercial and recreational fishing, and the well-being of our communities.  This is the first time the federal government has opened the California coast to new lease sales since 1984, when Ronald Reagan was president. The Draft Program includes 34 lease sales in 21 of the 27 Outer Continental Shelf Planning Areas—amounting to roughly 1.27 billion acres. Of those, 6 lease sales would occur in the Pacific, with 3 of them in the Southern California Planning Area in 2027, 2029 and 2030.

Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors Rejects Permits for Sable Offshore Corp.

The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors today rejected the transfer of permits to Sable Offshore Corp., the embattled oil company seeking to restart a huge oil and gas operation formerly owned by ExxonMobil on the Central Coast of California. The Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to continue today’s hearing to December 16 and directed staff to prepare findings to support denial of Sable’s application.  The vote is another blow for Sable, which in recent months has been hit by felony criminal charges, a state Attorney General lawsuit, and losses in court. Under County law, Sable cannot operate its onshore facilities without the permits.

Court rules that Sable Offshore Corp. did extensive work on corroded pipeline without required permits

A Texas oil company attempting to restart a defunct oil and gas operation near Santa Barbara lost again in court today, when a Superior Court judge ruled that the company did large-scale digging and other work on the coast to repair a defective pipeline without the required permits. Earlier this year, the California Coastal Commission sued Sable Offshore Corp. for openly ignoring multiple cease-and-desist orders and making extensive, unpermitted repairs to the pipeline—the same one that ruptured in 2015, causing the massive Plains oil spill at Refugio State Beach. The Coastal Commission said much of Sable’s unpermitted work destroyed or disrupted sensitive habitats and species in the area.

Environmental Defense Center statement on CA Attorney General lawsuit against Sable Offshore Corp.

On Friday, October 3, the California Attorney General’s office filed a complaint against Sable Offshore Corp. alleging that the company repeatedly broke the law and discharged waste into streams, wetlands, and habitats while making unpermitted repairs to a broken oil pipeline on the California Coast.

The Texas-based Sable is attempting to restart offshore platforms and other idled equipment in Santa Barbara County—including the same defective pipeline responsible for one of the worst oil spills in California history just 10 years ago.