The Federal Government Invokes Defense Production Act

Energy Secretary Chris Wright invoked the Defense Production Act to order Sable Offshore Corp. to restart shuttered operations at the Santa Ynez Unit and Santa Ynez Pipeline System off the Santa Barbara coast, according to Fox Business. The order directs Sable to restore oil production and move crude through the Las Flores Pipeline System to Pentland Station — a critical inland hub connecting offshore supply to California refineries.

The Defense Production Act is a wartime authority typically reserved for national security crises. Using it for domestic oil production signals the Trump administration views California's regulatory blockade as a national supply threat.

The Department of Energy stated that California once supplied nearly 40 percent of U.S. oil production. Today, more than 60 percent of oil refined in California comes from overseas — a significant share traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, which has faced disruption following U.S. military strikes on Iran.

Three Cabinet Secretaries Toured the Site

Energy Secretary Wright, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy all traveled to Santa Barbara to tour Sable's pipeline infrastructure, according to the NY Post. The three Cabinet members visited one oil site together, sending a deliberate message from Washington.

Wright also made a separate stop at a Synergy Oil & Gas site in Long Beach in early April, standing between rows of oil jack pumps to address California's energy policies, according to CalMatters. He said California's policies "enfeeble" the state by driving up energy costs, killing jobs, and pushing businesses out.

"When you make energy expensive by importing it and putting ridiculous regulations on it, you not only make it more expensive to pay your bills, but you make it so businesses that consume energy aren't going to locate in your state," Wright said.

The Courts Are a Battlefield

Federal Judge Stephen Wilson recently rejected a request from California State Parks for a temporary restraining order that would have stopped Sable from pumping oil through a four-mile stretch of pipeline crossing Gaviota State Park, according to the NY Post. State Parks argued the easement through that section expired a decade ago and that Sable's application for a new 30-year easement was denied. Wilson ruled State Parks "manifestly failed to demonstrate that it will suffer irreparable harm."

Separately, a U.S. district court denied the Department of Interior's request to halt enforcement of California's oil well setback law while broader litigation continues, according to CalMatters. The ruling represents a loss for the federal side in what has become a grinding legal conflict.

What Newsom Is Doing

Governor Newsom is fighting on multiple fronts. He's pushing to stop Sable's operations entirely and remove part of the company's pipeline, citing environmental risk and state authority over state park land. His administration has blocked a deal at the Synergy site in Long Beach where a wetlands authority had negotiated an arrangement: 154 acres of former oil field would become public wetlands, and Synergy would gain new drilling rights. A state setback law — designed to keep wells away from homes and schools — killed the new drilling component and froze the whole deal.

Meanwhile, Newsom issued a notice that California's gas tax will increase by approximately 2 cents per gallon beginning July 1, according to the NY Post. California already has the highest gas prices in the nation. The gap has widened following disruptions tied to the Iran conflict, according to CalMatters.

California's office told CalMatters that gas prices were stable and below $5 a gallon for roughly two years before the current administration's actions in Iran. California's structural energy costs, driven by its own regulations and import dependency, were already pushing prices above every other state long before any Iran strikes.

The Political Response

Sen. Adam Schiff and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have called for an investigation into communications between Sable executive James Flores and President Trump, and into potential campaign contributions, according to the NY Post. The investigation demand arrived the same week a federal judge ruled against state regulators.

How the Story Is Being Covered

Fox News and Fox Business covered the Defense Production Act order and Cabinet visit prominently. Left-leaning outlets have focused heavily on the Schiff-Pelosi investigation angle and framed the story as federal overreach. CalMatters ran a relatively straight account of Wright's Long Beach visit while giving Newsom's office space to respond, though it led with the wetlands deal framing rather than the supply chain implications.

California's energy vulnerability is measurable: more than 60 percent of the state's refined oil comes from overseas, with a significant portion moving through the Strait of Hormuz during an active conflict zone situation. This is a logistics fact with serious consequences for the most populous state.

The Bottom Line

If you live in California and fill a gas tank, you're already paying the price. The gas tax hike hits July 1. The state's refinery supply chains depend on overseas crude running through an active conflict zone. And the state government is in federal court fighting to shut down the one offshore operation being ordered back online. Californians are paying $5-plus per gallon regardless of how they assess blame.