In Florida, Criticism Of Trump Move To Expand Offshore Oil Drilling

WLRN Public Media | By Amy Green

Published January 5, 2018 at 8:14 AM EST

Opponents in St. Augustine of oil and gas exploration

A Trump administration proposal vastly expanding offshore drilling is generating criticism in Florida.

The proposal is the most expansive in decades. It includes 47 potential leases off the nation’s coasts from the Atlantic Ocean to Alaska, including one in the Straits of Florida.

Julie Wraithmell of Audubon of Florida joined other environmental groups in opposing the plan nearly eight years after the nation’s biggest offshore spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

“It’s rather shocking to think that so soon after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon incident we could be having this conversation already.”

Gov. Rick Scott announced he had asked for an immediate meeting with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to discuss, as he put it, “the crucial need to remove Florida from consideration.”

The five-year plan would open 90 percent of the nation’s offshore reserves to development.