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The Trump administration decision to open most federal waters to oil-and-gas drilling — and then exempting waters off of the Florida coast — has angered everyone from state officials, environmental advocates and even the oil industry.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has faced intense criticism from all sides after announcing last week that the U.S. is considering allowing drilling all along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts.
Zinke tried to calm his critics on Wednesday, saying that he will meet with every governor affected by the expansion.
“I will no doubt talk to every governor,” Zinke told the Washington Post. “It doesn’t matter to me whether you’re Republican or Democrat. This is going to be a long process. This is going to be at least a year with public comment. We have to get it right, look at the geology, look at the science.”
His promise to keep an open mind came after he already sat down with Florida Gov. Rick Scott.
“Quite frankly, Gov. Scott called me and he (also)expressed in writing a desire to have a meeting,” Zinke told the Washington Post.
Governors from a majority of the coastal states have questioned the administration’s decision to open up 90% of the country’s federal waters and sell 47 leases for oil drilling platforms — and asked why Florida received an exception.
“New York doesn’t want drilling off our coast either,” Gov. Cuomo tweeted. “Where do we sign up for a waiver @SecretaryZinke?”
Cuomo released a statement later that referred to the reversal of Obama-era protections as another “federal assault on our environment and our future.”
There have been no oil lease sales in the Atlantic since 1983.
Several state officials, from up and down the eastern and western seaboards and from both sides of the aisle, have publicly asked Zinke to be made exempt from the proposal.
Lawmakers from several states, including California, Oregon, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Washington, all requested exclusions last year, but Zinke favored Florida, which did not preemptively ask for an exemption.
Zinke initially said that the Sunshine State received special treatment because fellow Republican Scott is “a straightforward leader that can be trusted,” leading to cries of favoritism.
Some balked at Zinke’s claim that “Florida is unique and its coasts are heavily reliant on tourism as an economic driver.”
“California is also ‘unique’ & our ‘coasts are heavily reliant on tourism as an economic driver.’ Our ‘local and state voice’ is firmly opposed to any and all offshore drilling,” Xavier Becerra, California’s attorney general, tweeted at Zinke. “If that’s your standard, we, too, should be removed from your list. Immediately.”
It’s not just jealous lawmakers who are blasting the decision to exempt Florida waters from the new expansion.
Oil industry insiders who cheered Zinke’s announcement last week are up in arms over the prospect of the coastal waters along the western shores of the peninsula being off limits.
“The Gulf of Mexico is the backbone of our nation’s offshore energy production and restricting access to the Eastern Gulf puts hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk across the country and along the Gulf Coast, particularly in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi,” American Petroleum Institute president and CEO Jack Gerard said in a statement.
National Ocean Industries Association president Randall Luthi offered a similar sentiment.
“Science and decades of experience show that oil and natural gas exploration and development is not only compatible, but is complementary with tourism, fishing and enhancement of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystems,” Luthi said.
The Interior Department’s draft proposal, which spans from 2019 to 2024, has not been finalized and is subject to a 60-day public comment period.
The plan replaces President Barack Obama’s 2017-2022 offshore gas and drilling program that included 11 lease sales, 10 of which were in the Gulf of Mexico.
The 47 lease sales included in Zinke’s proposal include 19 off the coast of Alaska, including one Arctic Ocean lease sale every year, nine off the Atlantic coast, 12 in the Gulf of Mexico, including one in the Eastern Gulf that is under a Congressional moratorium from new leasing until 2022, and seven in the Pacific.
The plan was immediately condemned by environmentalists, who pointed to the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as an example of the risks associated with offshore drilling.
The 4.9 million barrel spill killed 11 people, caused billions of dollars in damage and led to stricter regulations on the industry — which are being rolled back by the Trump administration.
“Trump’s trying to turn our oceans into oilfields. His reckless plan would expose more wildlife and coastal communities to devastating oil spills,” said Kristen Monsell, ocean program legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity.