WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) issued the following statement condemning the Trump Administration’s orders directing Sable Offshore Corp. to restore long-closed oil operations of the Santa Ynez Unit and Pipeline System along California’s coastline:
“Californians have repeatedly rejected dangerous drilling off our coast for decades. Now, after dragging the U.S. into a war with Iran and driving up oil prices, the Trump Administration is trying to exploit this crisis to further enrich the oil industry at the expense of our communities and our environment.
“We’ve seen firsthand the devastation oil spills cause to our oceans, our communities, and our economy. California has shown a better way, investing in clean energy and protecting the coastline that millions of Californians depend on. We will fight this illegal effort and continue to protect our coast.”
Senator Padilla has been leading the charge against offshore oil and gas leases. Last December, Padilla and Representative Jared Huffman (D-Calif.-02) led 26 members of the California Democratic Congressional delegation in condemning the Trump Administration’s official draft 2027-2032 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program that includes six lease proposals off the coast of Northern, Central, and Southern California. Immediately after the Trump Administration’s sell-off to Big Oil was announced, Padilla and Huffman issued a joint statement and hosted a press call slamming the move. The month before, Padilla and Huffman led over 100 lawmakers in demanding President Trump and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum immediately cease any plans to open new offshore oil and gas leases in U.S. federal waters off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, in the Arctic Ocean and northern Bering Sea off of Alaska, and in the Eastern Gulf.
In April 2025, Padilla and Huffman, along with Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Senator Jack Reed (D-R.I.), and Representative Frank Pallone (D-N.J.-06), announced a pair of bills to permanently protect the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans from the dangers of fossil fuel drilling. Padilla and Huffman’s West Coast Ocean Protection Act would permanently prohibit new oil and gas leases for offshore drilling off the coast of California, Oregon, and Washington. In 2021, Senator Padilla joined West Coast Senators in calling on Senate leadership to include the West Coast Ocean Protection Act in the Senate version of the budget reconciliation bill after an estimated 126,000 gallons of oil spilled off the coast of California.