Kilmer Statement on Exclusion of Florida in President’s Offshore Drilling Plan
WASHINGTON, DC – Yesterday, the United States Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced that Florida will be the only state in the nation exempted from President Trump’s plan to open nearly all federal waters to oil drilling. The exclusion of Florida, where the President owns a seaside hotel, drew widespread, bipartisan opposition. The Administration cited the impact a major disaster would have on tourism as the reason Florida’s costal federal waters should be exempt from deepwater drilling. Representative Derek Kilmer (D-WA) made the following statement:
“What’s true for Florida is true for Washington’s coast and every other coastal community,” Representative Derek Kilmer (D-WA) said. “The job of the government is to protect our public lands and pass these national treasures on to our kids, not give them away to the highest bidder, and in the process put our environment, wildlife and economy at risk.”
Earlier this week, Kilmer voiced his opposition to the plan in a statement. In it, he warned about the danger the plan poses to Washington’s fisheries, shellfish growers, tourism and jobs and called for expanding renewable energy.