US Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) filed an amendment to the annual national defense bill aimed at keeping crude oil exploration and production out of the eastern Gulf of Mexico for an additional five years.
He made the June 7 move as a senior Armed Services Committee member a day after the American Petroleum Institute formally launched its Explore Offshore coalition to build support for oil and gas activity in US offshore areas which are off-limits currently (OGJ Online, June 7, 2018).
“Here we go,” Nelson tweeted in response to reports on June 6 that API had formed the coalition. “Like us, Big Oil doesn’t believe Florida is really ‘off the table’ to new drilling—despite what [Florida Gov. Rick] Scott and the Trump administration keep saying—and now they are making a new push to drill closer to Florida’s shores. We can’t let that happen!”
Scott, a Republican, announced on May 31 that he is running to defeat Nelson in November, when the senator up for reelection to a fourth term.
Nelson’s amendment would extend until 2027 the eastern gulf oil and gas moratorium, which is scheduled to expire in 2022. By making it an amendment instead of stand-alone legislation, he made it possible to require only 50 votes to be approved and added into the broader bill. Typically, 60 votes are required to get a stand-alone bill through the chamber, an official on his staff noted.
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