Don't Enable Sable - Stop the Oil Restart

In March 2026, a federal order fast-tracked the restart of some offshore oil operations along the Santa Barbara coast, reviving the shuttered pipeline system responsible for the 2015 Plains All American spill at Santa Barbara's Refugio State Beach. In collaboration with California's top state officials, Congressional champions, and other ocean advocates, Surfrider Foundation is fighting back to ensure our coast remains protected from new offshore oil drilling and hazardous oil and gas infrastructure.

Offshore drilling is a dirty and dangerous practice that harms the environment, communities, and businesses, while worsening climate change. Further, increasing offshore oil drilling is not needed to meet our nation’s energy needs, and using a pipeline with a history of corrosion and anomalies is especially risky and unnecessary.

The Surfrider Santa Barbara Chapter has been engaged in this campaign for years, convincing the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors and the California Coastal Commission to not “Enable Sable.” Thanks to years of advocacy, state and local governments were moving in the right direction, with the County denying Sable’s pipeline permits and the State fining the company for doing unpermitted work on the pipeline. It's disheartening to see the federal government ignoring these safety concerns and oversight actions by restarting the pipeline by invoking the Defense Production Act and infringing on states’ rights.

While the restart of this pipeline is currently being litigated in the courts, Congress is considering several harmful bill provisions that would further support the Sable pipeline and extend federal authority to force through other unpermitted energy projects. Specifically, Surfrider is opposing a harmful amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would authorize the seizure of public and private lands, allowing Sable Offshore Corp. to further build out oil and gas infrastructure along the Central Coast. Along with our Don't Enable Sable coalition partners including, but not limited to, the Environmental Defense Center, Center for Biological Diversity, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, and the Fearless Grandmothers, Surfrider is committed to opposing the restart of this pipeline.