• 3 minutes e-car sales collapse
  • 6 minutes America Is Exceptional in Its Political Divide
  • 11 minutes Perovskites, a ‘dirt cheap’ alternative to silicon, just got a lot more efficient
  • 8 hours GREEN NEW DEAL = BLIZZARD OF LIES
  • 2 hours Could Someone Give Me Insights on the Future of Renewable Energy?
  • 17 hours How Far Have We Really Gotten With Alternative Energy
  • 2 days "What’s In Store For Europe In 2023?" By the CIA (aka RFE/RL as a ruse to deceive readers)
  • 16 hours e-truck insanity
  • 4 days Bankruptcy in the Industry
  • 1 day Oil Stocks, Market Direction, Bitcoin, Minerals, Gold, Silver - Technical Trading <--- Chris Vermeulen & Gareth Soloway weigh in
  • 5 days The United States produced more crude oil than any nation, at any time.

Senior Interior Dept. Official Says Florida Still On Trump’s Draft Drilling Plan

A senior official from the Interior Department (DOI) said Florida was still under official consideration for offshore drilling, despite an announcement by Secretary Ryan Zinke last week stating that the state would be granted an exemption from the draft drilling plan due to concerns about its potential to effect coastal tourism.

Walter Cruickshank, the director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, made the statement at a congressional hearing on Friday, during which he was questioned by California Rep. Jared Huffman and Orlando Rep. Darren Soto.

“[Zinke’s] statement stands for itself, and we have no formal decision yet on what is in or out of the five-year program,” Cruickshank said in response to a question from Huffman. Florida Governor Rick Scott had met with Zinke the week before, after which the secretary clearly declared the southern state’s shores would not be open for drilling.

“Cruikshank simply said BOEM will finish the legally required analysis of the planning areas, as is always done for all planning areas,” DOI spokesperson Heather Swift told The Orlando Sentinel in an email.

States will have to fight aggressively to keep their shores safe from drilling, the backtracking shows, Florida lawmakers say.

“Clearly we’re in the plan and we need to work in a bipartisan fashion to get Florida exempt,” Soto said in an interview Friday. “We can’t let our guard down.”

Under the new National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for the period 2019 to 2024, some 90 percent of the outer U.S. shelf is set to be opened up to drillers as part of President Donald Trump’s strategy for energy independence and dominance. The figure compares with an Obama ban on drilling that covered 94 percent of the shelf.

By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com

ADVERTISEMENT

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:



Join the discussion | Back to homepage



Leave a comment

Leave a comment

EXXON Mobil -0.35
Open57.81 Trading Vol.6.96M Previous Vol.241.7B
BUY 57.15
Sell 57.00
Oilprice - The No. 1 Source for Oil & Energy News