The state of California is suing the Trump administration over its plans to restart an oil pipeline project that has been on hold for environmental and public health reasons since a massive oil spill in 2015.
The project is being led by a Texas-based company called Sable Offshore, which reportedly counts pro golfer Phil Mickelson as one of its investors. Despite officials in California saying that Sable Offshore hasn’t taken the necessary safety precautions to restart the project, the Trump administration said last year that it would allow Sable to proceed after President Donald Trump issued an executive order declaring a “national energy emergency.” Along with increased oil production, the order has also undercut state-level environmental protections.
Last fall, Pablo Torre invited Hunterbrook Media’s Sam Koppelman onto his podcast, “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” to discuss Koppelman’s report about a push by Sable Offshore investors to have Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick commandeer the California oil project.
Koppelman reported that he even gained access to a group chat Mickelson was in with Sable investors. He also told Torre about a tawdry text message he said the golfer sent referring to how the company’s stock value would increase if “Big daddy” Trump swooped in.
During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump reportedly promised Big Oil executives that he would gut regulations and issue approvals if elected. The restarting of the Sable project appears to be a prime example of that deferential relationship.
Neither the Trump administration nor Sable Offshore immediately responded to MS NOW’s request for comment on California’s lawsuit.
At a news conference announcing the suit, California Attorney General Rob Bonta made clear that he saw the restarted project as a sign of Trump’s subservience to the oil industry, saying, “Sable doesn’t like how the process is going, or the lawsuits that have piled up from local and state authorities, so Sable went crying to Trump.”
He added: “Sable said: ‘Jump.’ And Trump said: ‘How high?’”
Watch Bonta’s full remarks below:
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