Comments on California’s Lawsuit Against the Trump Administration on an Essential Interstate Pipeline

As reported today, 1/23/26, in Reuters, at a time when refineries are closing, California’s dependency on foreign oil, gasoline, and jet fuel from Iraq, India and China are increasing, California’s State Attorney General Bonta’s and Governor Newsom’s lawsuit against the Trump Administration’s permitting the use of an essential interstate crude oil pipeline is a desperate response to pressure from environmental and special interest groups, as well as a last gasp attempt to justify their failed policies which have resulted in Californians paying 47% more at the pump than the rest of the nation and 61% higher than Colorado. California also has the second highest residential electric utility rates in the nation. Collectively, Californians pay over $1.44 a gallon in state and local taxes and fees, the highest in the U.S.

Where once California produced over 70% of its crude oil needs, today the Golden State is the most reliant in the nation on foreign oil. Despite having the 5^th largest reserves in the U.S., California imports over 67% of its oil needs from countries such as Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, and Brazil. Brazil has destroyed over 24 million acres of rainforest. On average, GHG emissions from crude oil production from foreign sources such as India and Iraq are ten times (10x) greater than that of a California producer. 

President Trump and his Administration recognize the gravity of the “California Contagion” and its adverse impact not only on the hardworking people of the Golden State but also Nevada, Arizona, and national security. That’s why the President Trump designated the pipelines interstate and brought them under the purview of federal government…they are essential to the United States. 

With California slated to lose another refinery within 60-days, and the collapse of the essential north-south intrastate pipeline, increasing in-state onshore and offshore oil production will help to stabilize California’s energy markets and supplies and reduce its dependency on foreign crude and fuel sources, such as China and India. China is Iran’s largest consumer of its crude oil production. India, a provider of gasoline and jet fuel to California, sources much of its oil from Russia.

Confronting price hikes and potential gasoline shortages, the Governor was forced to acknowledge reality over political ideology and signed SB 237 into law, allowing for more onshore oil production. In doing so, he should have been aware that SB 237 alone was inadequate to support and stabilize California’s over-regulated and diminishing in-state crude oil and gasoline production. Where SB 237 might add upwards of 10,000 barrels a day to in-state crude production over a period of several years, offshore production from Sable could easily be 5 times that amount or 50,000 barrels a day, and nearly immediate. 

Increasing in-state crude production and supporting critical pipelines is necessary to the keeping the surviving refineries operating in California and oil flowing in the pipelines. It is also essential to Nevada and Arizona, and U.S. national security. Failing to do so will only lead to more refinery closures in 2027 and 2028, crippling California’s economy and those of Nevada and Arizona, and compromising U.S. force readiness and national security. Over 86% of all registered vehicles in the state use gasoline or diesel fuels, and most military and commercial aircraft depend on jet fuel refined from crude oil. Collectively, the oil and gas industry in California represents 8% of the state’s GDP. Critically, without the first 8%, you don’t get the other remaining 92%. Crude oil, in some form, is found in over 6,000 products, including EVs. 

As a matter of law, it’s problematic as to whether California will prevail in its efforts. Early consensus is that it will not and this latest folly will only stand as testament to more wasted taxpayer dollars in pursuit of political dogma. Those dollars could have been directed to lowering gasoline prices at the pump and keeping refineries open and pipelines operating.

If successful in their lawsuit, Governor Newsom and State Attorney General Rob Bonta will have knowingly contributed to more oil and refinery job losses, increasing consumer gasoline prices and adding to global GHG emissions due to all-time historical high dependencies on foreign oil and gasoline imports, as well as record high maritime vessel and port congestion. More alarmingly, they will have worked to compromise the security of the nation and the economies of neighboring states Nevada and Arizona while supporting the global aspirations of Russia and China.