Florida Republicans insist Trump will not expand oil drilling off Florida’s Gulf Coast

Florida Republicans say President Donald Trump has no plans to expand oil drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico after the 2020 election — insisting that he instead supports a 10-year ban on the practice.

But the the Trump administration’s support for a ban came into question after Politico reported that the Interior Department is putting together an offshore drilling plan that will include the eastern Gulf for after the November election.

The report, based on sources who spoke anonymously, prompted a response Thursday from Joe Biden, Trump’s likely Democratic general election opponent.

“President Trump and his administration know such a measure is deeply unpopular, which is why they are waiting to take action until after the election,” Biden spokesperson Kevin Munoz said in a statement. “Floridians know firsthand the impact offshore drilling can have on the state’s beaches, jobs and communities. Joe Biden will take decisive action to protect our environment and our local economies.”

Oil drilling in the Eastern Gulf is a political nonstarter in Florida after nearly 69 percent of Florida voters in 2018 supported a state constitutional amendment to ban it. The state’s entire congressional delegation is opposed to it.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment. The Trump campaign did not rule out the prospect of offshore drilling in a statement sent to the Miami Herald.

“President Trump has been a champion of domestic energy production and has America positioned as the world’s leader,” Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh said in a statement.

But the Interior Department’s press account tweeted Wednesday that “current offshore plans do not expire until 2022, and Interior does not plan to issue a new report in November.”

When the Interior Department releases a draft oil drilling report, the public will have a chance to comment on it before a final draft is approved.

Trump’s Interior Department tried in 2017 to overturn the Obama administration’s ban on oil and gas drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, and included Florida in a draft plan to expand offshore drilling.

But in 2018, then Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke declared that oil drilling in Florida was “off the table” after meeting with then Gov. Rick Scott, who was in the middle of an ultimately successful campaign for U.S. Senate. The meeting was presented as a last-minute policy change after an urgent meeting between Zinke and Scott, though emails showed that the pair’s staff coordinated plans days in advance.

Representatives for Scott and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said the pair will continue to push for a 10-year drilling moratorium in the Republican-controlled Senate, which Rubio says has a better chance of passing than a permanent ban. The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed a permanent moratorium last year, a bill sponsored by Florida Republican Rep. Francis Rooney.

In an interview, Rooney said Florida’s top Republicans have talked to the president multiple times about the environmental and political perils of drilling in Florida.

“I know the [Interior] secretary and certain parts of the oil industry would love to drill that up,” Rooney said. “I’ve talked to the president, [Rep.] Matt Gaetz has talked to the president, Marco Rubio, Rick Scott have talked to the president. I do think the president understands how important this issue is and how bipartisan this issue is in Florida.”

Rubio spokesperson Nick Iacovella said “whether we pass the moratorium before or after the election, we intend to pass the moratorium and when all is said and done we are confident there will be no drilling off of Florida’s coast.”

Scott spokesperson Chris Hartline said “we’re always looking for ways to push this issue and make sure the administration lives up to their commitment.”

Late last year, Rubio held up the nomination of deputy Interior Secretary Katharine MacGregor over concerns regarding offshore drilling. After meeting with MacGregor, Rubio received assurances that the department was not considering expanding drilling off Florida’s coasts and lifted the hold. MacGregor was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in February.

This week, environmental groups and political groups aligned with Democrats decried any attempt to expand oil drilling after the November election, with the Center for Biological Diversity’s Florida political director saying the “cowardly scheme to hide his offshore drilling plans until after Election Day highlights his utter contempt for Florida voters and their environmental concerns.”

Rooney said Floridians remember the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and its negative effects on the state’s tourism and fishing industries, along with the environmental impacts. He said that Trump, a businessman with tourism industry experience and a Florida resident, would be making a mistake if he included the state in any drilling plans.

“People in Florida do not want offshore drilling. It scares everybody because of the risks to our tourist economy,” Rooney said. “We can’t just have that threat hanging over our head.”

This story was originally published June 11, 2020 at 5:37 PM.