TAMPA, Fla. — Offshore oil drilling has lengthy been a political flashpoint in Florida, the place recollections of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon catastrophe nonetheless form public opinion. The explosion and spill despatched tar balls onto some Florida seashores and rattled the state’s tourism-driven financial system.
Years later, in 2018, voters overwhelmingly accredited a constitutional modification banning drilling in state waters.
WATCH: Trump Administration’s Gulf drilling plan attracts bipartisan rebuke in Florida
Trump Administration’s Gulf drilling plan attracts bipartisan rebuke in Florida
In 2020, throughout his first time period, President Donald Trump signed a 10-year moratorium on drilling in federal waters off Florida’s coast.
Now, the administration is proposing a shift.
On Thursday, officers with the U.S. Division of Inside unveiled a plan that will permit drilling in an space of the Gulf far offshore from the Florida shoreline.
Secretary of the Inside Doug Burgum stated the transfer is a part of a long-term technique to strengthen home power manufacturing.
“By moving forward with the development of a robust, forward-thinking leasing plan, we are ensuring that America’s offshore industry stays strong, our workers stay employed, and our nation remains energy dominant for decades to come,” he stated.
However in Florida, a few of the president’s strongest allies are urging him to rethink, together with Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“Our Administration supports the 2020 Presidential Memorandum and urges the Department of Interior to reconsider and to conform to the 2020 Trump Administration policy,” wrote Molly Greatest, the governor’s press secretary.
Each of Florida’s U.S. senators, Republicans Rick Scott and Ashley Moody, have additionally expressed considerations.
“I have been speaking to [Secretary Burgum] and made my expectations clear that this moratorium must remain in place, and that in any plan, Florida’s coasts must remain off the table for oil drilling to protect Florida’s tourism, environment, and military training opportunities,” Scott wrote on X.
“Preserving our state’s natural beauty is deeply important to the millions who call the Sunshine State home, our visitors, and those whose livelihoods depend on tourism,” Moody wrote on the identical platform.
Rep. Jimmy Patronis, who represents Northwest Florida, warned the proposal may damage tourism and intervene with army testing within the Gulf.
He despatched a letter to the administration, joined by seven different Republican members of Congress (Byron Donalds, Scott Franklin, Laurel Lee, Vern Buchanan, Daniel Webster, Neal Dunn, and Mike Haridopolos), asking for a portion of the Gulf the place army testing is carried out to be withdrawn from the drilling proposal.
“Beyond these operational challenges, further oil exploration could have severe economic consequences for the region by reducing the economic impact of the military in Northwest Florida, which contributes $21.8 billion to gross domestic product and generates nearly 200,000 jobs in the region,” Patronis wrote to President Trump. “The plan will likely also reduce tourism along the Gulf Coast, which is God’s gift to Florida.”
Opposition extends throughout the aisle as properly. Rep. Kathy Castor, a Democrat who represents Tampa and St. Petersburg, criticized the plan.
“Florida is a special place, but it is a fragile place, and our way of life depends on clean water and clean beaches,” she stated throughout a Thursday press convention.
The proposal now enters a 60-day public remark interval earlier than it may be finalized.
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