Democrats thought they had buried American energy production for good.
They spent years building regulatory walls to keep oil in the ground.
But Doug Burgum just delivered one crushing blow that left Adam Schiff and his green allies scrambling for damage control.
Trump’s Interior Secretary Reopens Massive Pacific Oil Reserve
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum pulled off what many thought was impossible – cutting through a decade of Democrat red tape to reopen a massive Pacific oil reserve that had been shuttered since 2015.¹
The Santa Ynez Unit sits off the California coast holding an estimated 190 million barrels of recoverable oil – enough to supply 80% of regional production when fully operational.
Democrats like Senator Adam Schiff and Representative Salud Carbajal fought tooth and nail to keep it closed, but Burgum steamrolled their objections in just five months.
"The Trump administration is restoring energy independence and unleashing the full potential of American offshore resources like never before," an Interior Department spokesperson declared.
The timing couldn’t be more perfect.
While California Democrats whined about climate change and environmental concerns, American families have been paying through the nose for gasoline under years of Biden-Harris energy policies.
Now Trump’s team is delivering real solutions instead of empty promises about wind and solar fantasies.
Schiff’s Desperate Last-Ditch Effort Falls Flat
Adam Schiff knew what was coming and tried everything to stop it.
The California Senator teamed up with Representative Salud Carbajal to write a panicked letter to Governor Gavin Newsom in March, warning about the "threats from the Trump administration to expand oil drilling everywhere."²
Their letter read like a climate activist’s fever dream, claiming fossil fuels were responsible for Los Angeles wildfires and demanding California resist federal energy policies.
"In addition, we face threats from the Trump administration to expand oil drilling everywhere, including offshore California, and to gut federal policies and agencies that protect our environment and tackle the ongoing climate crisis," Schiff and Carbajal wrote.
The pair even dragged up a 2015 oil spill to scare people about reopening the platforms, conveniently ignoring that Houston-based Sable Energy had purchased the site from ExxonMobil and invested heavily in safety upgrades.
But their fear-mongering didn’t work.
Burgum’s team navigated what sources described as a "slew of permitting, environmental approvals and regulatory roadblocks from Sacramento" and got the job done anyway.
From Zero Production to Energy Dominance in Months
The numbers tell the real story here.
The Pacific region went from zero energy production for the past ten years to near-full production capacity in a matter of months under Trump’s leadership.
Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement Deputy Director Kenneth Stevens made it clear this was exactly what President Trump promised voters.
"President Donald Trump made it clear U.S. energy should come from American resources," Stevens said, adding that the agency "helped bring oil back online safely and efficiently."
"That’s what ‘energy dominance’ looks like: results, not delays," he added, predicting three oil platforms will be online by the end of the year.
Compare that to the Biden-Harris approach of endless environmental reviews, regulatory delays, and virtue signaling about renewable energy that can’t keep the lights on.
Burgum cut through the bureaucratic nonsense and delivered actual results in record time.
Democrats Double Down on Failed Green Energy Fantasy
Even after getting thoroughly outmaneuvered, California Democrats refuse to admit their green energy policies have been a disaster for working families.
Carbajal actually had the nerve to introduce legislation in April to permanently ban offshore oil exploration in California, claiming the state’s "world-famous coastline must be protected for future generations to enjoy."
The Congressman told Fox News Digital that Burgum’s move was a "deeply concerning development" and launched into the usual talking points about oil spills and environmental damage.
"And let’s be clear: if energy independence were truly the goal, the current administration would be investing in cleaner—and often more affordable—energy sources like solar and wind, not gutting their federal support," Carbajal said.
That’s rich coming from a party that spent four years under Biden-Harris making Americans dependent on foreign oil while chasing windmill fantasies that don’t work when the wind stops blowing.
The smart money says Carbajal and Schiff know their green energy scam is falling apart, which explains why they’re fighting so desperately to keep American oil in the ground.
They’d rather see families struggle with high energy costs than admit Trump’s America First energy policies actually work.
This Santa Ynez victory is just the beginning of Trump’s energy dominance strategy, and Democrats are already running out of ways to stop it.
¹ Charles Creitz, "Trump admin rebuffs Schiff, reopening massive Pacific oil reserve capable of 80% of regional production," Fox News, July 28, 2025.
² Ibid.
