California will block the transport of petroleum from new offshore oil rigs through its state, officials told Reuters, a move meant to hobble the Trump administration's effort to vastly expand drilling in U.S. federal waters.
California's threat to deny pipeline permits for transporting oil from new leases off the Pacific Coast is the latest step by states trying to halt the biggest proposed expansion in decades of federal oil and gas leasing. Officials in Florida, North and South Carolina, Delaware and Washington, have also warned drilling could despoil beaches, harm wildlife and hurt lucrative tourism industries.
"I am resolved that not a single drop from Trump's new oil plan ever makes landfall in California," Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, chair of the State Lands Commission and a Democratic candidate for governor, said in an emailed statement.