The Donald Trump administration said Tuesday that it would not allow oil drilling off the coast of Florida, abruptly reversing course under pressure from Gov. Rick Scott.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced plans last week to greatly expand offshore oil drilling from the Atlantic to the Arctic and Pacific oceans, including several possible drilling operations off Florida, where drilling is now blocked. The plan was immediately met with bipartisan opposition on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.
Scott came out against the Trump administration plan when it was first announced, saying his top priority is to ensure that Florida's natural resources are protected.
Scott has supported drilling off Florida's coast in the past. He opposed a state constitutional ban on offshore oil drilling in 2010.
Other Republican governors also oppose the plan, including Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and Massachusetts Gov. Charles Baker.
When asked what caused the administration to change its position on Florida drilling, Zinke said bluntly, "The governor."
Zinke said last week that the drilling plan called for responsible development that 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.
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.