The move breaks decades of precedent on the federal government’s policies regarding offshore drilling leases near Florida and California.
The Trump administration announced on Nov. 20 that it was approving new oil drilling leases off the coasts of California, Florida, and Alaska, as President Donald Trump seeks to surge U.S. oil production to reduce energy costs.
The order will replace it with Burgum’s 11th National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, which, among other actions, proposes up to 34 potential offshore lease sales throughout 21 areas off the coast of Alaska, seven in the Gulf near Florida, and six along the California coast.
The move, which was met with immediate opposition from Democrats and environmental advocates, breaks with decades of precedent over oil drilling waters near California and Florida, where oil spills remain a concern for residents and local politicians.
While California possesses some offshore oil rigs, no new oil drilling leases have been issued in its federal waters since the mid-1980s. Additionally, since 1995, the federal government has blocked oil drilling in federal waters off of Florida and portions of Alabama over concerns of oil spills.
Burgum’s plan calls for new drilling of Florida’s Gulf Coast in locations at least 100 miles from the shore, adjacent to an area in the Central Gulf that already has thousands of wells and hundreds of drilling sites.
“With this draft plan, Donald Trump and his Administration are trying to destroy one of the most valuable, most protected coastlines in the world and hand it over to the fossil fuel industry,” Padilla and Huffman wrote. “These lease areas are not only irreplaceable, but allowing drilling in these areas would undermine military readiness and pose risks to national security.”
Joseph Gordon, the campaign director of the environmental group Oceana, called the Trump administration’s plan an “oil spill nightmare.”
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), a top Senate Republican, had persuaded the first Trump administration to back away from a similar offshore drilling plan in 2018 when he was still governor. Earlier this month, Scott co-sponsored a bill with fellow Florida Republican Sen. Ashley Moody (R-Fla.) that would maintain a moratorium on offshore drilling in the state that Trump signed during his first term.
“I will always work to keep Florida’s shores pristine and protect our natural treasures for generations to come,” he said.
