California prepares to fight to protect coast during second Trump presidency
President-elect Donald Trump promises to "unleash American energy" by maximizing U.S. oil and gas production. The directive comes at a time when the planet continues to warm, largely due to the burning of fossil fuels, experts say.
The fight over offshore drilling along California coast is far from over. Oil and gas drilling off the California coast is a politically explosive issue that is historically marked with passionate opposition.
"What you've got to do is fight it every step of the way," saidd former U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. Panetta heads up the Panetta Institute for Public Policy, located on the campus of Cal State Monterey Bay.
Panetta has served in several Presidential administrations. But when he represented California's central coast in the U.S. House of Representatives for 16 years, he took significant action to protect the coastline.
"You don't have oil drilling in Yosemite. You don't have oil drilling in Yellowstone. And frankly, we shouldn't have oil drilling off the California coast in a place like Big Sur or Monterey," explained Panetta.
A significant threat to the pristine coastline occurred after Ronald Reagan was elected President in 1981. His Interior Secretary James Watt announced plans to sell oil and gas rights in the federal waters off of California to the highest bidder. The plan failed due to widespread opposition.
It also mobilized a bipartisan effort under Panetta to create the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary where oil drilling is forbidden. Today, there are five such sanctuaries along the California coast.
"Thank god we had broad support here in the community," noted Panetta.
Since the devastating 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, California has prohibited new offshore oil and gas drilling in state waters.
Three miles off the coast, in federal waters, President Joe Biden recently took action to ban any new offshore drilling. Soon after the announcement, President-elect Donald Trump announced a plan to undo the Biden ban.
"I will reverse it immediately. It will be done immediately, and we will drill baby drill," Trump said during a press conference.
It's not clear how the President-elect would do this. He may call upon the courts or U.S. Congress. But as that battle shapes up, another one is already underway.
"Unfortunately. the threat is not over," proclaimed Alex Katz, the Executive Director of the Environmental Defense Center in Santa Barbara.
He explained that Biden's ban does not cover any existing lease. In federal waters just north of Santa Barbara, three existing offshore oil platforms just cleared a major hurdle to come back online.
"This company is trying to restart these platforms, which would significantly increase fossil fuel production in California," said Katz.
The platforms are part of what's called the Santa Ynez Unit. In 2015, the unit was shut down after a badly corroded pipeline ruptured near Refugio beach and caused the second most damaging oil spill in Santa Barbara history.
"It killed you know countless marine animals, including marine mammals, shut down businesses, shut down beaches, destroyed habitats all up and down the coast of Central and Southern California," remembered Katz.
In 2020, a new company called Sable Offshore out of Houston took over the unit. In a statement, Sable's VP of Regulatory and Environmental Affairs Steve Rusch noted that "Sable continues to work closely with state regulatory agencies."
The company just received a waiver from the Office of the State Fire Marshal or OSFM regarding its pipeline and says the unit will produce a million barrels of crude oil a month. The OSFM has published all the listed requirements online.
The California Natural Resources Agency told CBS News Bay Area that many state agencies oversee Sable's attempt to restart pipelines and they would need to approve a number of actions before the unit comes back online.
As for Trump, he wants to accelerate drilling in federal waters and lands and speed up lease sales. Some environmentalists are counting on regulatory roadblocks.
"This process itself of opening up new oil drilling platforms is very lengthy, very time consuming," explained Katie Thompson, the executive director for Save Our Shores, an ocean conservation organization based in Santa Cruz.
Thompson pointed out how every year, California's coastal "blue" economy -- which encompasses tourism, fishing and shipping --contributes roughly $46 billion to the state's economy.
"When we think about the economy, we just need to shift our perspective away from fossil fuels and more forward thinking about the sustainable economy," said Thompson. "And with a coastal state like California, that depends on the health of our coasts and our marine life."
