US Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and 16 members of the US House of Representatives from the Sunshine State urged US Sec. of the Interior Ryan Zinke to keep the eastern Gulf of Mexico closed to oil and gas activity if he decides to develop a new 2017-22 US Outer Continental Shelf management plan.
“Drilling in this area threatens Florida’s multibillion-dollar, tourism-driven economy and is incompatible with the military training and weapons testing that occurs there,” they said in a Mar. 24 letter to the secretary. “If you do choose to draft a new plan, we strongly urge you to keep the eastern gulf off-limits.”
Zinke has not said whether he plans to start considering a new 5-year OCS plan so soon after the Obama administration finalized one on Jan. 17 that begins on July 1. One of his predecessors as secretary, Dirk A. Kempthorne, started the process 2 years ahead of schedule in 2008 after global crude oil prices nearly doubled in a year to more than $120/bbl (OGJ Online, July 31, 2008).
When Congress passed the 2006 Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, it closed most of the eastern gulf to oil and gas activity, including all areas east of the Military Mission Line, Nelson and the other members of Florida’s congressional delegation said in their letter.
“In 2015, the Department of Defense reiterated its opposition to offshore drilling activities in this vital training area,” the federal lawmakers said.
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