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The San Francisco Frontier | Est. 2025
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An aerial view of the Ritz-Carlton Bacara, in Santa Barbara, California, on a sharp sunny day.

Photo by Steve Gribble on Unsplash

Trump Just Tried to Force California to Reopen a Santa Barbara Oil Pipeline. And We're Not Having It

mei |

In a move that’s got California officials absolutely furious, the Trump administration just invoked emergency powers to force the restart of an offshore oil pipeline near Santa Barbara that’s been shut down since 2015. Here’s the deal: the administration is using the Defense Production Act, a Cold War-era law, to override state environmental protections, claiming it’s necessary for national security and energy independence following escalating tensions with Iran.