As a grandmother nearing 70, I’ve learned that failing to heed history’s lessons dooms us to repeat them. And my friends, our Santa Barbara coast knows this lesson all too well.
Remember the devastating oil spills — 1969 in the Santa Barbara Channel, and 2015 at Refugio? Over 450,000 gallons of crude oil coating 150 miles of our precious coastline. Dead wildlife. Devastated fishing communities. Ruined beaches. The cleanup and damages have cost over $750 million — and that’s just in dollars, not in long term or hidden environmental damage.
Yet here we are again. A relatively new Texas oil company continues its plan to restart the old, corroded pipeline along the Gaviota coastline, defying the Cease and Desist orders from the Coastal Commission and other state agencies. This very same corroded pipeline that federal regulators identified as the cause of the 2015 spill. A 2020 Texas startup — Sable Offshore — funded 99 percent by Exxon, when Exxon deemed the pipeline too risky to operate themselves, are heads down, hurtling us all toward the next crisis for our coastal waters and lands.
Think about that. Exxon won’t touch it, but they’ll fund a startup to do it. And when the next disaster strikes, that startup can vanish, leaving California taxpayers, us, with the cleanup bill.
Even worse? Sable has now filed a lawsuit against the Coastal Commission claiming it has the right to do what it wants, and the company has bullied the county into stepping back with threats of more lawsuits.
The U.S. has produced more oil and energy products than ever in recent years. In 2024 oil exports increased by 24 percent and we export more domestic oil than we use. This isn’t about energy needs — it’s about Big Oil profits, taking yet another dangerous gamble with our coastline.
One blessing of reaching my age is I have lost my filter — and my fear of speaking out. So hear this clearly: Our coastline is not a sacrifice zone for corporate profits. Our future is not negotiable. Our coast is not for sale.
It is time for all people in our county and beyond that care about ensuring a future for our county and children and grandchildren to be heard. Stand with us. Block this dangerous pipeline restart.
Show up on February 25 at 8 a.m. for a rally and press conference in front of the County Administration Building in Santa Barbara to ask the county supervisors to say no to transferring all the responsibility to Sable from Exxon.
Also, watch for more information about the public meeting on March 13 with California State Secretary Wade Crowfoot and the agencies watching out, not only for the coast but the rivers and farmlands inland as the pipeline winds its way for 100 miles inland. Attend these meetings, you can make a difference. And stand up together and say it loudly with me: Don’t Enable Sable!
