The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors voted 3-1 on May 13, 2025 to develop a framework to end oil operations in the county. The plan would “phase out” existing onshore oil and gas operations in the county and prohibit new operations. Notably, the phase out would impact onshore production only, as offshore production is under state or federal control. The phase-out process, if successful, could take years to implement.
The move to end oil operations in Santa Barbara County comes out of its 2030 Climate Action Plan, adopted in August 2024, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by half by 2030. The GHG inventory in the plan excludes emissions from oil and gas facilities, and the board asked county staff to recommend ways to reduce oil and gas emissions. Meanwhile, environmental groups argued that the GHG inventory should include all emissions in the county.
When the county adopted the 2030 Climate Action Plan, it lacked “primary regulatory control” over oil facilities. In September 2024, however, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law AB 3233, which gave local governments control over oil and gas operations, including the authority to limit or ban oil production.
At the May hearing, county staff recommended a ban on new oil drilling to reduce emissions. County staff reported that a ban on oil development would be “the most viable and the least resource-intensive to develop, adopt, implement.” The county reported that the extraction process produces 79% of emissions from oil and gas production in Santa Barbara County.
Supervisors also cited research from U.C. Santa Barbara that claimed that a total phase out of oil and gas operations would save the county between $54 million and $81 million in mortality-related costs by 2045, would have limited economic impact, and would prevent the release of 344,072 metric tons of CO2 and avoid $21.8 million in climate damage.
Supervisor Bob Nelson opposed the measure. “I think this is a snow job,” Nelson said, according to the Santa Barbara Independent. “It’s highly inappropriate, some of the worst governance I’ve seen in my time in government.” He argued that tankers delivering imported oil would produce more greenhouse gases than would be reduced by phasing out oil operations. Nelson also stated that the statistics in the UCSB report were not vetted.
The county staff must report in October with a timeline and budget for an amortization study, an Environmental Impact Report, and process for drafting a phaseout ordinance.
Santa Barbara County has 1,030 active wells, 1,318 idle wells, and 5,491 plugged and abandoned wells.