Environmental, business, and community leaders call on Newsom administration to stop dangerous offshore oil project
March 14, 2025
Hundreds turn out for press conference and town hall to oppose restart of oil drilling on the Gaviota Coast
Santa Barbara, CA – Central Coast environmental groups, elected officials, business leaders, and high-profile activists including Jane Fonda, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert held a press conference on Thursday, March 13, to demand that state agencies step up to protect the California coast and communities from another disastrous oil spill.
Speakers at the press conference hosted by the Environmental Defense Center (EDC) called out Sable Offshore Corp., a new Texas oil company, for its plans to restart oil and gas drilling off the Gaviota Coast using the same defective pipeline that caused the Refugio oil spill 10 years ago. Speakers also demanded that the state conduct a full environmental review of the project and allow for public input as required by law. So far, the project has moved forward with zero environmental review or formal public input.
“Today we urge the State of California to protect us from the largest threat facing the California coast,” said EDC Chief Counsel Linda Krop. “In its short history, not only has Sable disregarded our community’s strong opposition to this project, not only did they sue to prevent the public from seeing their plans, but they have been operating in open violation of numerous state laws and orders. We are sending a message: in California, we will fight to protect our coastline, our watersheds, our cities, and our people. Laws still matter and this company must be held accountable.”
“The effects of this project could be irreversible,” said activist and actor Jane Fonda. “But we won’t let it happen. We are fighting not just for the future, but for our health and safety, and we know how to fight.”
Sable is trying to restart three 1980s-era offshore platforms and other equipment formerly owned by ExxonMobil, including the same defective pipeline that burst 10 years ago and caused the massive Refugio oil spill. That spill, one of the worst in California history, poisoned 150 miles of the coast, destroyed habitats, killed untold numbers of animals, wreaked havoc on the Central Coast’s economy, and closed businesses, fisheries, and state parks for months.
Hundreds of people wearing red “Don’t Enable Sable” t-shirts and holding signs with messages including “No Polluting Pipeline” also attended a town hall on Thursday organized by Assemblymember Gregg Hart and Senator Monique Limón and moderated by California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot.
Eight state agencies with different levels of authority over the restart plan came to the town hall to explain their roles in the project. Three of those agencies have issued Notices of Violation or cease and desist orders to Sable for conducting unpermitted work on the pipeline. However, the company has ignored those orders and continued repairs.
California Coastal Commission Deputy Director Cassidy Teufel said that Sable has committed numerous Coastal Act violations, and that the work often involved disrupting and destroying sensitive habitats. “This is the first time in the agency’s history that we’ve had a party blatantly ignore a cease-and-desist order like this and refuse to submit a permit application,” he said.
At the Coastal Commission’s April public meeting, to be held in Santa Barbara, the commission is expected to consider enforcement actions against Sable.
State Fire Marshal Chris Berlant promised that the agency would not sign off on a restart of the pipeline until all the other agencies at the table had resolved their issues with Sable.
Activist, actor, and local resident Julia Louis-Dreyfus gave impassioned remarks at the town hall. “Here’s why there’s so much opposition to this pipeline: nothing brings Californians together like protecting our coast,” she said. “What we are asking for today is very straightforward and simple. We are asking state agencies to enforce the law and follow their own rules for overseeing this project.”
As she spoke, Sable employees stood up and left the building.
“Walking out showed the disregard and disrespect Sable executives have for this community,” said EDC Executive Director Alex Katz. “When they ignore state orders, plow through sensitive habitats, and won’t even listen for a few minutes to serious concerns about the dangers of their project, how can we trust them to operate here in good faith?”
Please contact EDC for high resolution photos and video footage. Quotes from EDC’s press conference are copied below:
Linda Krop, Chief Counsel, Environmental Defense Center
“Today we urge the State of California to protect us from the largest threat facing the California coast. In its short history, not only has Sable disregarded our community’s strong opposition to this project, not only did they sue to prevent the public from seeing their plans, but they have been operating in open violation of numerous state laws and orders. We are sending a message: in California, we will fight to protect our coastline, our watersheds, our cities, and our people. Laws still matter and this company must be held accountable. We applaud the agencies that have issued notices of violation to Sable. However, the company has continued to ignore those violations. It is time for the State Attorney General, Rob Bonta, and other agencies to enforce the law and prevent Sable from causing further harm. It is critical that the state conduct environmental review and allow public input as required by the law.”
Mati Waiya, Tribal Chair, Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation
“Our community is still recovering from the 2015 oil spill that contaminated the sacred site of Qasil, killing hundreds of seabirds, and oiled our kin, ‘Alol’koy,” stated Mati Waiya, Tribal Chair, Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation. “We are appalled by the State Fire Marshal’s Office for waiving safety standards for a decrepit pipeline with such an abhorrent history. We will not stand idly by while the colonizing institutions threaten our life ways, our communities, and continue to kill our earth ocean.”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
“I’m here because I’m a resident of Santa Barbara County, and I can smell a rat. And this project is a rat. Here’s why there’s so much opposition to this pipeline: nothing brings Californians together like protecting our coast. We know its value. It is priceless. Sable is not behaving like a responsible operator. They are behaving like an incompetent operator trying to grease the wheels of government to restart a project without oversight, a project that has already criminally failed and fouled our seas which are the very underpinning of our state’s enviable prosperity. We are not going to let that happen without a fight. What we are asking for today is very straightforward and simple: We are asking State Agencies to enforce the law and follow their own rules for overseeing this project. We are asking Attorney General Rob Bonta and Governor Newsom to stand up, show some backbone, and do their jobs – enforce the laws of our great state in the name of the people who elected you to your high office.”
Jane Fonda
“The effects of this project could be irreversible. But we won’t let it happen. We are fighting not just for the future, but for our health and safety… and we know how to fight. We have Governor Newsom who wants to hold the line against the Trump administration and protect our coast from more oil drilling. Well…the most significant threat to the California coast is what Sable is trying to do. We urge the state representatives to represent their constituents and use their power to defend our coast and protect our climate. We will be watching.”
Ryan Gellert, CEO, Patagonia
“The duty to protect our communities from another catastrophic oil spill outweighs an Exxon-backed company’s need to make a few dollars,” said Ryan Gellert, CEO of Patagonia, the Ventura-based outdoor apparel company. “Moving forward with this project and risking another spill would place fossil fuel interests over the welfare of local businesses and people who rely on the health of this coast for their livelihood. We need commitments from state agencies to enforce California’s environmental laws and use them as they were intended to protect the environment from projects like this that are such a clear danger to our beautiful coast.”
Julie Schneiderman, Co-Founder, Women in the Water
“Access to the ocean inspires community, connection, education, and action. In 2015, while camping at Refugio Beach with my daughter’s school, I witnessed the devastating reality of oil drilling—children playing in the sand as toxic oil washed ashore and whales swam through polluted waters. That moment was a heartbreaking reminder of the urgent need to protect our coastlines from the dangers of fossil fuel extraction. This is why we need to take action now to fight and stop projects like the Sable oil pipeline restart, ensuring that our oceans remain clean, accessible, and thriving in our community today and for future generations.”
Jenna McGovern, UCSB Environmental Affairs Board
“This pipeline isn’t just about Santa Barbara. It sets a precedent for oil policy on a national scale, signaling whether our state and country are complacent in environmental destruction and corporate greed. If this project is approved, it sends a message that violating regulations is acceptable. As we prepare to inherit a world of shrinking resources, where profits have been prioritized over people, we’re relying on these agencies that truly hold our future in their hands.”
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The Environmental Defense Center defends nature and advances environmental justice on California’s Central Coast through advocacy and legal action. Since 1977, EDC has represented more than 140 nonprofit, community-based organizations to protect the Central Coast and the Earth’s climate. EDC is funded through private donations, receiving no government assistance. Learn more at www.EnvironmentalDefenseCenter.org.
