Momentum against Texas oil company builds as “Seinfeld” and “Veep” star Julia Louis Dreyfus and Jane Fonda slam Sable
SANTA BARBARA, Calif.—An impassioned Julia Louis-Dreyfus took to the stage at the Environmental Defense Center Thursday to express her anger with what she says is a lack of government oversight on a dangerous project.
“I am here because I'm a resident of Santa Barbara County and I can smell a rat. And this project is a rat,” said the “Seinfeld” and “Veep” star-turned-activist.
Actress Jane Fonda also spoke out against Sable Offshore continuing to work in the coastal zone despite two cease-and-desist orders.
“It's important for us to raise our voices for Santa Barbara, for the coastline, but also for the climate crisis. We're not supposed to still be drilling for oil and putting it through pipes and sending it places. That's supposed to be phasing out. And so I'm here to raise my voice, and I'll be back,” said Fonda.
Locals say that getting two stars involved in this movement will have a tremendous impact.
“When you have somebody with as much star recognition as Julia Louis-Dreyfus come out, it really gets attention from people all over the state, all over the country. And that's what this is an important issue for our whole state, for our whole country, for the whole world,” said Brian Trautwein from the Environmental Defense Center.
Alongside state lawmakers like Senator Monique Limón and Assembly Member Gregg Hart, environmentalists also demanded that state agencies step up to protect the California coast from another oil spill.
After the rally hundreds of environmentalists and Sable workers attended a town hall at La Cumbre Junior High.
Representatives from eight state agencies that are key decision makers in this pipeline restart were available to comment.
“Sable says, trust us. Trust us. It's so safe. Well, if it's so safe, they should have no problem with the state doing a full environmental review of the project, right? And they should have no problem showing their plans to the public. So we can weigh in. Right? They have done neither,” said Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Attendees tell us when Julia Louis-Dreyfus spoke again during the town hall, hundreds of Sable workers left in the middle of her speech.
"Sable Offshore management, employees, contractors, labor and supporters showed up today in good faith to participate in a town hall meeting where only government officials were on the agenda to present," said Sable Offshore's Vice President of Environmental and Governmental Affairs Steve Rusch. "Project opponents forced the moderators to give them dedicated time to present biased information and smear the project. The opponents’ self-serving fundraiser and rally was not an appropriate use of public resources."
Sable has consistently maintained it will repair the pipeline that burst in the Refugio Oil Spill to "as new" condition and implement the highest possible safety measures.
The state agencies in attendance say a final restart authorization will not take place until all permits are attained from all the agencies.
