FILE: A surfer catches a wave in front of the Hondo offshore oil platform at Refugio State Beach on Nov. 12, 2025, in Santa Barbara County.

The Trump administration’s efforts to bring back oil and gas drilling were denied by a California federal judge this week.

The administration wanted to pause enforcement of a 2022 California law that prohibited drilling in areas near schools, hospitals and homes. But U.S. District Judge Dena Coggins ruled Monday that California’s law was a “reasonable environmental regulation” and that the Trump administration had failed to show likely “irreparable harm” from letting the law stand.

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“Californians can breathe........

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