Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Friday took action to hit back at two of the Trump administration’s top antagonists: Oil supply disruptions brought on by the war in Iran and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Wright issued an order paving the way for a company operating off the California coast to restart an oil pipeline that state officials have kept offline since 2015. The Energy Department framed it as a way to ease reliance on oil imports through the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for oil tanker traffic that the war has choked off.
“Today, more than 60 percent of the oil refined in California comes from overseas, with a significant share traveling through the Strait of Hormuz — presenting serious national security threats,” the department wrote in its announcement. Wright said in a statement that the move would “strengthen America’s oil supply and restore a pipeline system vital to our national security and defense, ensuring that West Coast military installations have the reliable energy critical to military readiness.”
Wright’s directive invoked the Defense Production Act, a 1950 law that gives the president broad powers over domestic industry in the interest of national defense. President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier Friday that delegated some of his authority under the law to the energy secretary, opening the door to Wright’s move.
