By Ella Nilsen, Steve Contorno, CNN<\/p>\n
(CNN) \u2014 The Trump administration is proposing to open federal waters off the entire coastline of California to drilling, as well as an area off the coast of Florida. Neither state\u2019s waters have been open to new drilling for decades.<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump\u2019s Interior Department released a five-year offshore drilling plan on Thursday that would open up vast parts of California\u2019s coastline to drilling, which hasn\u2019t happened in that state since the late 1960s. The Department is also proposing new oil drilling in parts of the Eastern Gulf \u2014 located approximately 100 nautical miles off Florida\u2019s coast \u2014 a decision opposed by Florida\u2019s Republican leadership.<\/p>\n
The Trump administration\u2019s proposal would open the Eastern Gulf to federal oil drilling auctions starting in 2029. It would open auctions for drilling in central and southern California in 2027 and northern California in 2029.<\/p>\n
The oil industry has been advocating for opening up parts of the Eastern Gulf that are adjacent to areas where oil production has been happening for decades in the Central Gulf, an industry source told CNN.<\/p>\n
The proposal is sure to be met with resistance in California. The state\u2019s coast has not seen drilling since a devastating oil spill in 1969, which drew national attention for destroying coastal wildlife and the state\u2019s fishing industry.<\/p>\n
During Trump\u2019s first term, Florida\u2019s congressional delegation \u2014 including Republicans \u2014 repeatedly pushed back against attempts to open the eastern Gulf of Mexico to drilling. The first Trump administration extended the offshore drilling ban for the Eastern Gulf, rather than opening it up.<\/p>\n
This new Gulf action has also rankled many Florida Republicans, where memories of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill still shape public opinion. Molly Best, a spokeswoman for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, said the governor\u2019s office still supports the ban on drilling in the area from Trump\u2019s first term.<\/p>\n
The DeSantis administration \u201curges the Department of Interior to reconsider,\u201d Best said in a statement.<\/p>\n
And a letter from several Florida Republican congressmen to the president urged the administration to withdraw the Eastern Gulf parcels, saying oil exploration there was \u201cincompatible with military operations and recreational uses.\u201d Among the signees is Rep. Byron Donalds, the Trump-endorsed candidate for governor in 2026.<\/p>\n
Leading up to the release of Thursday\u2019s five-year plan, Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida said he believed he had assurances from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum that any new drilling in the Gulf would not threaten Florida economically, environmentally or militarily, a source with knowledge of their conversation told CNN. A source close to several Republicans in Florida\u2019s delegation told CNN officials believe the proposal honors those assurances, though congressional staff were still studying the details.<\/p>\n
National Ocean Industries Association president Erik Milito called the inclusion of the Eastern Gulf a \u201cforward-looking approach\u201d and American Petroleum Institute president Mike Sommers hailed it as a \u201chistoric step.\u201d<\/p>\n
The move is part of President Donald Trump\u2019s agenda to open up more parts of the country to drilling for fossil fuels \u2014 the oft-repeated campaign promise of \u201cdrill, baby, drill.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s plan also proposes holding lease sales in the western and central Gulf of Mexico, where the vast majority of offshore drilling currently takes place. It also proposes auctioning off federal waters along almost all of Alaska\u2019s coastline at the end of the decade and into the early 2030s.<\/p>\n
In response to the Trump administration\u2019s new plan, California leaders vowed to push back on the federal government\u2019s move to open waters up to drilling, including possible legal action.<\/p>\n
\u201cTime and again, President Trump has shown that his interest lies with his Big Oil friends profiting at the expense of our environment and public health,\u201d said Christine Lee, a spokesperson for California attorney general Rob Bonta. \u201cWe won\u2019t stand for this and are exploring our legal options.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sen. Alex Padilla and Rep. Jared Huffman, both California Democrats, said in a joint statement that Trump\u2019s plan \u201ctargets California and the whole West Coast because they think we will roll over.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are wrong,\u201d Padilla and Huffman said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to fight this with everything we have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Given Trump\u2019s tariffs, it\u2019s not currently boom time for oil drilling, experts told CNN. Companies instead are trying to curb their spending and hold onto their earnings, said Tom Seng, a professor of energy finance at Texas Christian University.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, the industry doesn\u2019t have a lot going on,\u201d Seng told CNN. \u201cWe certainly have a pro-fossil fuel administration. They\u2019re going to streamline things for us, but the marketplace will always dictate activity.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Seng said, some oil exploration companies will likely want to \u201ctake advantage of the lease offerings,\u201d with an eye towards the long-term future.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe question is, when will they deploy the capital to actually drill on the leases?\u201d he said. \u201cThere won\u2019t be a rush to do so. $60 oil won\u2019t help.\u201d<\/p>\n
Environmental groups said the plan would pose a threat to marine life and oceanside communities around the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis draft plan is an oil spill nightmare,\u201d said Oceana campaign director Joseph Gordon. \u201cThe last thing America needs now is a massive expansion of offshore drilling that could shut down our shores with catastrophic oil spills.\u201d<\/p>\n
The latest move follows other steps the Trump administration has taken in recent days and weeks to expand oil drilling around the country. The Interior Department this week announced it was rolling back a Biden-era rule that had banned fossil fuel drilling on nearly half of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, over 13 million acres.<\/p>\n
And environmental groups sounded the alarm as oil company ConocoPhillips proposed more oil drilling exploration in Alaska, including drilling four new exploratory wells in the NPRA. The company is currently developing the massive Willow project in NPRA where it expects to start producing oil by 2029. Willow was approved by former President Joe Biden in a move that roiled the Democratic president\u2019s base.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe public deserves the right to have a say on what happens on these critically important public lands in the Western Arctic,\u201d Earthjustice attorney Ian Dooley said in a recent statement. \u201cSeismic and drilling activities can cause impacts on this sensitive ecosystem that lasts decades.\u201d<\/p>\n
The-CNN-Wire
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