Fla. solons rip DOI drilling plan

The Trump Administration’s plan to open nearly all U.S. waters to oil drilling – including 12 lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico – has taken hits from Florida Republicans. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Gov. Rick Scott released statements Jan. 4 opposing Department of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's proposal to allow O&G companies to drill on the Atlantic Coast for the first time since the 1980s. “I urge Secretary Zinke to recognize the Florida Congressional delegation’s bipartisan efforts to maintain and extend the moratorium in the eastern Gulf of Mexico,” said Rubio, “and remove this area for future planning purposes.” Scott, a Trump ally, tweeted that he had already asked for a face-to-face meeting with Zinke to “discuss the concerns (and to) remove Florida from consideration.” DOI’s plan calls for 25 of 26 offshore areas, about 90 percent of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf, available for lease. The areas excluded are marine sanctuaries, and Alaska’s North Aleutian Basin Planning Area. If approved, the plan would be in effect from 2019 to 2024. U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who introduced a bill in 2017 to abolish the EPA, tweeted that he was "100 percent opposed." (Source: Huffington Post 01/04/18) In an e-mail to constituents on Jan. 5, Gaetz wrote he does not support Zinke’s plan for Florida based on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 that was a “catastrophe for Florida and for the environment. “(W)e must do everything possible to ensure a disaster like that never happens again.” He also noted that the drill area overlaps the military’s Gulf Test Range training area, a vital location for current and next-generation technology. Drilling that area “would greatly harm our military readiness and our national security,” he claimed.