The Trump administration has unveiled plans to initiate new oil drilling ventures along the coasts of California and Florida, marking the first such move in decades.
FLORIDA, USA — A bipartisan effort is underway among Florida lawmakers who are voicing strong opposition to the Trump administration’s proposal for offshore oil drilling in the Gulf waters near their state.
In a pointed letter to President Donald Trump, eight Republican congress members from Florida expressed their apprehensions, highlighting the potential adverse effects on the state’s economy and tourism sector should oil drilling proceed.
Notable signatories of this letter include Tampa Bay representatives Vern Buchanan and Laurel Lee, along with Rep. Byron Donalds, who has received Trump’s endorsement in his bid for the Florida governorship.
The letter states:
“In addition to operational challenges, expanding oil exploration could severely impact the region’s economy by diminishing the military’s economic presence in Northwest Florida, which supports $21.8 billion in GDP and creates nearly 200,000 jobs. Furthermore, the plan threatens to diminish tourism along the Gulf Coast, a natural treasure of Florida.”
The message to the president also cites concerns that the oil drilling would make a block within the Eastern Gulf Test and Training Range (EGTTR), which impacts missions at Eglin Air Force Base, Hurlburt Field, Tyndall Air Force Base and Naval Air Station Pensacola.
“While we wholeheartedly support your push for American energy independence and expanded domestic oil and gas production, the EGTTR is critical to advanced weapons development, flight testing, and joint exercises essential to maintaining America’s military superiority,” the letter reads.
Florida senators Rick Scott and Ashley Moody have also spoken out against the administration’s plans on their social media pages.
“I have been speaking to @SecretaryBurgum and made my expectations clear that this moratorium must remain in place, and that in any plan, Florida’s coasts must remain off the table for oil drilling to protect Florida’s tourism, environment, and military training opportunities,” Scott wrote on X.
“The new maps released today by @SecretaryBurgum and @Interior outlining potential new offshore oil drilling sites in the Gulf of America are HIGHLY concerning—and we will be engaging directly with the department on this issue,” Moody wrote on X.
On the day Trump’s offshore drilling plan was proposed, Florida Democratic Chair Nikki Fried gave a statement calling it a “nonstarter,” citing that opposition to drilling off the state’s coastline has always had bipartisan support.
“Florida has a long history of bipartisan support against drilling off our coastlines,” Fried’s statement said. “Our state’s fragile ecosystem and economy would be irreparably harmed if this proposal were to move forward.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis has also spoken out against opening waters off the state’s Gulf Coast to oil drilling, stating that it reverses a previous Trump administration move to expand bans on drilling sites off Florida in 2020.
“What the Interior Department is proposing to do is really to go back off that policy, and I think that would weaken protections that we worked very hard to establish offshore,” DeSantis previously said during a press conference in Crystal River.
The Trump administration announced on Nov. 20 new oil drilling off the California and Florida coasts for the first time in decades, as President Trump seeks to expand U.S. oil production.
The administration’s plan proposes six offshore lease sales between 2027 and 2030 in areas along the California coast.
It also calls for new drilling off the Florida coast in the Gulf of Mexico at least 100 miles from shore. Drilling leases would be sold in the newly designated South-Central Gulf region, adjacent to the central Gulf’s thousands of wells and hundreds of drilling platforms.
The new designation distinguishes the targeted area from the Eastern Gulf, where drilling is prohibited under a moratorium Trump signed in his first term. Industry representatives said the change was aimed at addressing concerns from Florida officials who oppose drilling near their tourism-friendly coasts.
The five-year plan also would compel more than 20 lease sales off the coast of Alaska, including a newly designated area known as the High Arctic, more than 200 miles offshore in the Arctic Ocean.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
