California pipeline at issue after ExxonMobil’s plan fails

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD
Associated Press

SANTA MARIA, Calif. (AP) — A dispute over building an oil pipeline across California has intensified with the defeat of ExxonMobil’s proposal to truck oil from now-idled offshore platforms. Santa Barbara County supervisors rejected the interim trucking plan Tuesday, denying the company a crucial step in its hopes of resuming production at the platforms. Meanwhile, regulators are considering a plan to replace a pipeline that was shut down in 2015 after causing California’s worst coastal spill in 25 years. That line had been the link for decades between the platforms and processing plants on shore. The state is moving toward banning gas-powered vehicles and oil drilling amid the global climate crisis and record gas prices.