How a Massive Spill in Ecuador is California’s Spill Too

California likes to think of itself as a climate crusader, leading America toward a low-carbon future. But the truth is more tangled, and more embarrassing: we are now so dependent on oil from Ecuador that a catastrophic spill in the Amazon rainforest becomes, in effect, our crisis too.

When Ecuador’s major pipeline ruptured, sending tens of thousands of barrels of crude into rivers, forests, and coastal lands, it was not just a foreign tragedy. It was a wakeup call for California. Because thanks to decades of anti-production policies at home, we now import more than half of Ecuador’s oil output, process much of it here, and send it into our gasoline tanks.

If California will allow its own producers to operate under fair permitting rules, we might not need a drop from the Amazon. Instead, that world, one where California fuels itself, has been systematically dismantled.

The Amazon Spill: Ecological Catastrophe, Human Disaster

In March 2025, Ecuador’s massive SOTE pipeline in the Esmeraldas region broke following a landslide. More than 25,000 barrels of crude were unleashed into three rivers, coastlines, and agricultural lands.

The environmental toll was immediate and devastating. Local fishing communities lost livelihoods, drinking water was contaminated, forests were stained, and wildlife perished. Villagers downstream reported health damage, ruined crops, and a sense that their world had been poisoned beyond repair, according to Amazon Frontlines.

This was not the first spill. Ecuador sees hundreds of incidents annually from pipeline leaks, dumping, and inadequate containment. Between 2015 and 2021, at least 899 documented oil spills occurred across the country averaging two per week.

The spill underlines stark realities: oil produced in remote jungles is never “out of sight.” It is inherently dangerous, no matter who drills or transports it.

California: The World’s Biggest Importer of Amazon Oil

This crisis is not happening to someone else. California is the world’s largest buyer of crude from the Amazon, and Ecuador is its primary supplier.

In fact, Ecuador provided a major share of California’s foreign oil in 2021, contributing to more than 56 percent of foreign imports, with Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq each making up roughly 20 percent.

Studies by environmental groups also show that 89 percent of Amazon crude exports end up in California, making the supply chain strikingly direct. See this Earth.Org evidence.

California’s Senate recently passed a resolution urging a review and phase-out of oil imports from the Amazon, citing the state’s complicity in deforestation, human rights abuses, and environmental degradation.

Yes, this is a political move. But it is also an admission: California cannot escape the consequences of supply chains it embraced.

Permitting Politics: The Ruin of Domestic Production

Here’s the core of the hypocrisy: California has abundant oil beneath its soil. Kern, the Los Angeles Basin, and the Central Valley are proven resources that once powered this state. Yet under the current administration, permitting has become a labyrinth.

Since 2019, approvals for drilling, well maintenance, and production expansion have been delayed or denied. Even routine upgrades sit in permit purgatory for years. As a result, local producers cannot invest, expand, or restore output.

By contrast, foreign oil producers face loose constraints in many respects. We export that risk to others, then import their crude, refined under poorer standards, and carry the blame when disaster strikes.

If California had maintained its production capacity, we would have far less need to rely on Ecuador. Our supply would be more secure, local, and accountable.

The Moral and Practical Reckoning

When the Amazon spills, the blame does not stop at Ecuador’s borders. It runs down the tanker lines into California refineries, through pipelines, and up to state capitals.

We are culpable. Our policies produced this vulnerability. We funded deforestation by buying that crude. Our regulators cleared the path for foreign extraction instead of domestic stewardship.

We must demand accountability:

• Stop the blame game. Call this a man-made oil crisis.

• Roll back curbs on California production. Restore permitting integrity.

• Diversify supply. Reduce reckless dependence on fragile foreign sources.

• Strengthen environmental standards globally, but begin with where America holds leverage.
  

If California had not abdicated its own energy sovereignty and had simply treated in-state producers fairly, we would not now be left holding this Ecuador spill like a poisoned gift. Instead of pretending we are climate saints, we should own the mess we helped make and fix it.