California is mounting a legal challenge against the Trump administration’s efforts to restart a Texas company’s offshore oil operation off the Golden State coast.
What happened: California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed an emergency motion in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on Monday asking the judge to prevent Sable Offshore Corp. from operating its oil pipeline system that connects to a trio of platforms off the Santa Barbara coast.
Why it matters: The move signals California’s intent to fight the Trump administration’s recent invocation of its national defense emergency powers to order Sable to commence operations. On Monday, Sable announced that, in light of the federal order to restart, it began moving oil from its offshore wells to a way station in Kern County and planned to begin sales of the crude by April 1.
Context: Bonta filed the motion on behalf of the California Office of the State Fire Marshal and State Parks agency.
