Florida congressional Republicans urged Trump to continue oil drilling off the state’s coast

WASHINGTON (AP) — Florida’s Republican-dominated congressional delegation is urging the Trump administration to abandon plans to allow new oil drilling off the state’s coast for the first time in decades.

A letter signed by Republican Sens. Rick Scott and Ashley Moody — as well as all 28 Florida House members — said the Interior Department’s plan would jeopardize the state’s booming tourism industry and disrupt military operations in key training areas.

“In 2020, you made the right decision to use executive action to extend the oil and gas leasing moratorium on Florida’s Gulf and East Coasts through 2032, recognizing the incredible value Florida’s pristine beaches have to our state’s economy, environment and military community,” wrote President Donald Trump in a letter Thursday.

The letter represents a rare pushback against a Republican president by GOP lawmakers and shows how important the state’s beaches and coastal waters are to Florida’s economy.

The letter does not criticize Trump, whose Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Florida, will not be affected by the drilling plan. Instead, lawmakers praised Trump’s actions during his first term, when he banned drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico until 2032.

The moratorium received overwhelming bipartisan support, lawmakers noted.

“We urge you to maintain your existing moratorium and keep Florida’s coasts off the oil and gas leasing schedule. Florida’s economy, environment and military readiness depend on this commitment,” they wrote.

Interior Secretary Doug Bergum announced a five-year offshore drilling plan last month that includes new oil drilling off the California and Florida coasts for the first time in decades. The plan, which critics say could harm coastal communities and ecosystems, comes as Trump seeks to expand U.S. oil production to achieve what he calls “energy dominance” in global markets.

The oil industry is seeking access to new offshore fields, off the coast of Southern California and Florida, as a way to boost U.S. energy security and jobs. The federal government has not allowed drilling in federal waters in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, which includes parts of offshore Florida and offshore Alabama, since 1995 due to oil spill concerns. There are a few offshore oil rigs in California, but no new leases in federal waters since the mid-1980s.

The drilling proposal drew bipartisan pushback in Florida, where Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, a spokesman, said the Trump administration should reconsider.

Scott, the state’s senior senator, said in a post Friday that he was “proud to lead Florida’s entire congressional delegation to @POTUS to continue his commitment to keeping Florida’s coasts off the table for oil drilling.”

“While we do not comment on congressional correspondence through the media, the Interior Department takes all congressional correspondence seriously and reviews each matter carefully,” an Interior Department spokesman said in an email.

Inland is accepting public comments until the end of January on the drilling plan, which includes 34 potential offshore lease sales nationwide through 2031. That includes 21 sales off the coast of Alaska, seven off the Gulf of Mexico and six off the Pacific coast.

New drilling off the coast of Florida would occur at least 100 miles offshore in the newly designated south-central Gulf region, next to thousands of wells and hundreds of drilling platforms in the central Gulf of Mexico.