Nostalgia surfaced in statements from U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara), when he recently spoke before the dais he once sat on.
“It’s always nice to be back,” Carbajal said during public comment at the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors’ Sept. 22 meeting. “Although I certainly wish it was under happier circumstances.”
Carbajal was among the speakers who urged the board to formally oppose a piece of federal legislation currently awaiting Senate consideration known as the Hunt Amendment.
If passed, according to the county staff report, this legislation would empower the secretary of defense to use federal eminent domain to acquire easements across private and state-owned lands “along the route” of the Las Flores pipeline system, to “ensure continuous operation of the pipeline to transport crude oil.”
“The Hunt Amendment would set a terrible precedent,” said Carbajal, who described the proposed amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act as Sable Offshore Corporation’s attempt to “rig the system in its favor.”
“We are already seeing why these concerns can’t simply be dismissed,” Carbajal continued. “Just six months after restarting the pipeline, Sable is now digging up 12 sections of the system after federally mandated inspections identified potential corrosion. That is especially concerning given that corrosion was at the heart of the 2015 Refugio oil spill.”
With the 3-1 vote, the board ultimately formalized its opposition to the legislation, via a letter addressed to U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla (D-California) and Adam Schiff (D-California).
Fourth District Supervisor Bob Nelson dissented, while 3rd District Supervisor Joan Hartmann recused herself from voting, out of an “abundance of caution, … given the pipeline runs by my house,” she said.
Fifth District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino said he usually abstains from voting on resolutions about federal legislation, “because I feel like this is what Salud was elected to do.”
“But in this case, this totally affects Santa Barbara County,” Lavagnino continued. “As a tip of the hat to local control over local land use, I will be opposing this amendment.”
After Lavagnino’s comments, 2nd District Supervisor Laura Capps said she wanted to take a moment to tell him that she’s “really proud of the distinctions you make so often here.”
“Maybe I’m getting nostalgic here with Supervisor Lavagnino’s end of time here coming pretty soon, but I’m just really proud,” Capps said. “Just last week, you gave such a forceful defense of the [oil] industry, to your district, to your area that you’ve represented for so long. And then you come in here and make these different types of votes all the time. I just wanted to acknowledge that because I admire your intellect and ways in which you approach issues.”
“Don’t get me all teary eyed,” Lavagnino said, prompting laughs from his peers. “Let’s move on.”
While exploring the potential of a future, countywide oil and gas operation phaseout, the board voted 3-2 on Sept. 15 to approve one phase of the policy package that bans new oil and gas drilling.
Lavagnino and Nelson dissented.
“From what I understand about environmental justice, you have to ask the question: Why are we targeting the industry that helps disadvantaged communities pull their people out of poverty?” Lavagnino argued at that hearing. “Nowhere in my 16 years on this board have we ever had a study about what’s the overall environmental impact of tourism. And why not? It’s because it’s on the South County.
“If we really believe that GHGs are the existential threat to mankind, why do we allow over 7 million visitors to come visit Santa Barbara every year?” he continued. “We encourage it. We subsidize it. We celebrate it. And what are we celebrating—20,000 people a day are coming here. … Thirty-eight commercial flights a day land at Santa Barbara Airport, burning GHGs, or they drive here, … or they show up on a cruise ship burning bunker fuel in the channel.”
This article appears in September 24 – October 1, 2026.
