Trump Moves To Vastly Expand Offshore Drilling Off US Coasts

SC Republican: Trump drilling idea 'horrible public policy'

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration moved Thursday to vastly expand offshore drilling from the Atlantic to the Arctic oceans with a plan that would open up federal waters off California for the first time in more than three decades.

The new five-year drilling plan also could open new areas of oil and gas exploration in areas off the East Coast from Florida to Maine, where drilling has been blocked for decades. While some lawmakers in those states support offshore drilling, the plan drew immediate opposition from governors up and down the East Coast, including Republican Govs. Rick Scott of Florida and Larry Hogan of Maryland, who pressed President Donald Trump to withdraw their states from consideration.

Democratic governors on both coasts blasted the plan. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called it "another federal assault on our environment" while California Gov. Jerry Brown vowed to block "this reckless, short-sighted action."

- Sponsors -

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced the plan, saying that responsible development of offshore energy resources would boost jobs and economic security while providing billions of dollars to fund conservation along U.S. coastlines.

The five-year plan would open 90 percent of the nation's offshore reserves to development by private companies, Zinke said, with 47 leases proposed off the nation's coastlines from 2019 to 2024. Nineteen sales would be off Alaska, 12 in the Gulf of Mexico, nine in the Atlantic and seven in the Pacific, including six off California.

"This is a draft program," Zinke told reporters during a conference call. "Nothing is final yet, and our department is continuing to engage the American people to get to our final product."

- Partner Content -

Sunni LeBeouf

Black History Month Spotlight This Black History Month, Cox Communications is proud to recognize Sunni LeBeouf for her prolific record of professional achievement, civic philanthropy,...

Industry groups praised the announcement, which would be the most expansive offshore drilling proposal in decades. The proposal follows Trump's executive order in April encouraging more drilling rights in federal waters, part of the administration's strategy to help the U.S. achieve "energy dominance" in the global market.

"To kick off a national discussion, you need a national plan — something that has been lacking the past several years," said Randall Luthi, president of the National Ocean Industries Association. President Barack Obama blocked Atlantic and Pacific drilling under a five-year plan finalized in 2016.

A coalition of more than 60 environmental groups denounced the plan, saying it would impose "severe and unacceptable harm" to America's oceans, coastal economies, public health and marine life.

- Sponsors -

"These ocean waters are not President Trump's personal playground. They belong to all Americans and the public wants them preserved and protected, not sold off to multinational oil companies," read the coalition's statement, which was signed by leaders of the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, League of Conservation Voters and other environmental groups.

The proposal comes less than a week after the Trump administration proposed to rewrite or kill rules on offshore oil and gas drilling imposed after the 2010 rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. The accident on BP's Deepwater Horizon rig killed 11 workers and triggered the biggest offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

The Trump administration called the rules an unnecessary burden on industry and said rolling them back will encourage more energy production. Environmentalists said Trump was raising the risk of more deadly oil spills.

The Obama administration imposed tougher rules in response to the BP spill. The rules targeted blowout preventers, massive valve-like devices designed to prevent spills from wells on the ocean floor. The preventer used by BP failed. The rules require more frequent inspections of those and other devices and dictate that experts onshore monitor drilling of highly complex wells in real time.

The Gulf of Mexico is still recovering from the BP spill, said Diane Hoskins, campaign director for the marine conservation group Oceana.

"Americans have seen the devastation that comes from offshore drilling," she said. "Will we allow Florida's white beaches or the popular and pristine Outer Banks to share a similar fate? What about the scenic Pacific coast or even remote Arctic waters?"

Zinke's announcement "ignores widespread and bipartisan opposition to offshore drilling," including from more than 150 municipalities nationwide and 1,200 local, state and federal officials, Hoskins said.

Scott, the Florida governor, said he has asked for an immediate meeting with Zinke to discuss his concerns. "My top priority is to ensure that Florida's natural resources are protected," Scott said. Hogan, of Maryland, said he would oppose the plan "to the fullest extent that is legally possible."

California was the site of the first offshore drilling in the U.S. more than 120 years ago, but the region was tarnished by one of the worst spills in U.S. history in 1969, when more than 3 million gallons of oil poured into the ocean near Santa Barbara.

Thousands of sea birds were killed, along with dolphins, elephant seals and sea lions. Virtually all commercial fishing near Santa Barbara was halted, and tourism dropped dramatically.

Public outrage generated by the spill helped spark the modern environmental movement, and no federal leases have been granted off the California coast since 1984.

Democratic Govs. Jerry Brown of California, Kate Brown of Oregon and Jay Inslee of Washington issued a joint statement slamming the proposal, which they said ignored science and the devastation of past offshore spills.

"For more than 30 years, our shared coastline has been protected from further federal drilling and we'll do whatever it takes to stop this reckless, short-sighted action," they said.

SC Republican: Trump drilling idea 'horrible public policy'

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The Trump administration's proposal to expand offshore drilling is "horrible public policy," a Republican lawmaker from coastal South Carolina said Thursday.

State Sen. Tom Davis told The Associated Press that he worries exploratory efforts including seismic testing could harm marine life, as well as the state's $20 billion tourism industry, much of which is based in and around the lush coastline.

The third-term senator who served a delegate for Donald Trump at last year's GOP convention also said infrastructure needed for offshore exploratory efforts, including refineries and construction yards, "is dirty and highly industrial."

"This is simply not compatible with coastal South Carolina," Davis said.

The proposal unveiled by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke would vastly expand offshore drilling and open up federal waters off the California coast for the first time in more than three decades.

The new five-year drilling plan also could open new areas of oil and gas exploration off the East Coast from Georgia to Maine, where drilling has been blocked for decades. Many lawmakers in those states support offshore drilling, although the Democratic governors of North Carolina and Virginia oppose drilling off their state coasts.

Drilling-related issues have always garnered lots of attention of South Carolina, a deeply conservative state with nearly 190 miles of ocean coastline, and where some groups and local governments have passed their own resolutions opposing drilling. Eddy Moore of the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League said a spill like 2010's Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf would "devastate" the state's rich beaches, rivers and salt marshes.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, one of Trump's earliest and most ardent supporters, has been cool to drilling and seismic testing, telling an economic development group he had "serious deep concerns." In April, when the Trump administration announced it would revisit plans for more offshore exploration, McMaster said he wanted to protect natural resources and had questions about the proposals.

McMaster's office didn't immediately return a message seeking comment Thursday. Lt. Gov. Kevin Bryant, who is challenging McMaster for this year's GOP nomination, said, "We need to explore what we have off the coast" but cautioned against taking reckless action.

The state's congressional delegation has had mixed feelings on drilling. Rep. Jim Clyburn, South Carolina's only congressional Democrat, said Thursday on Twitter that he had always opposed drilling and urged Congress to "act quickly" to block the expansion.

But even South Carolina's congressional Republicans have been split on offshore drilling. Rep. Mark Sanford, the state's former two-term governor, called it a "big win" for coastal communities in January 2017 when the Obama administration blocked seismic surveys in the Atlantic.

Months earlier, when federal officials barred oil drilling off the Atlantic Coast, Rep. Tom Rice — whose district includes Myrtle Beach, the heart of South Carolina's $19 billion tourism industry — said that, given discoveries of more onshore oil using technologies like hydraulic fracturing, "tapping new reserves in the Atlantic has become less and less feasible." On Thursday, Rice reiterated his previous opposition to drilling off South Carolina's coast.

In a statement to AP, U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy called it "critical" to take precautions to protect the environment

In a release, U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan called the plan "tremendous news for American energy independence, economic development, and job creation."

In a statement to the AP, Republican Sen. Tim Scott's office said he supports offshore energy exploration, but also believes officials should get buy-in from more coastal residents before moving forward.

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, who said after Trump's executive order that "there are ways to drill offshore that would not hurt tourism," didn't immediately comment Thursday.

Ralph Norman and Joe Wilson didn't immediately return messages seeking comment.

-By Matthew Daly, Associated Press in Washington and Meg Kinnard, Associated Press in Columbia, SC

Digital Sponsors / Become a Sponsor

Follow the issues, companies and people that matter most to business in New Orleans.

Email Newsletter

Sign up for our email newsletter