Chris White of the Daily Caller details a potential constitutional fight featuring California and the federal government.
California officials plan on preventing the federal government from transporting oil and gas using existing pipelines in the state, according to a report Wednesday from The San Francisco Chronicle.
Officials on the California Coastal Commission are urging the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to rescind plans allowing companies to drill for oil off the coast. They are still hoping for an exemption from the oil drilling plan, that Florida has received. …
… California’s decision could set it on a collision course with the Trump administration.
The state has control over the first three miles west from the coast, and the federally owned Outer Continental Shelf includes waters up to three miles out from that line.
California officials can therefore control pipelines, transportation of materials, terminals, and refineries built in coastal areas. The federal government could pull out the U.S. Constitution’s supremacy clause to create a regulatory framework that would override California law.
