On Jan. 8, the Trump administration released its five-year draft plan to open up 90 percent of all coastlines around the U.S. to oil and gas drilling; just a small part of Alaska’s and Hawaii’s coastlines are not included in the plan. Soon after the directive was released, Rick Scott, the Republican governor of Florida, requested an exemption, citing the uniqueness of the state’s coastline that would be at risk if an oil spill accident occurred. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke famously granted the exemption request via a tweet.
The requested exemption, however, is not a done deal as the acting director of the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has not signed off on it. Meanwhile, many other governors of coastline states have also asked for exemptions.
The Trump administration’s move to open up most of America’s coastal areas to oil and gas drilling was met with immediate and widespread opposition. Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Mary Sweeters, a climate and energy ampaigner with Greenpeace USA, who talks about what environmental groups and their allies are doing to fight the oil drilling plan, and the next steps in the campaign.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is holding one hearing in each state on the Trump administration’s oil drilling proposal, and the public has until March 9, to send in their comments. For more information on Greenpeace USA, visit Greenpeace.org/usa
