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Florida Offshore Decision Unleashes Opposition Tidal Wave

Other states want similar treatment

The Interior Department may waive royalty fees paid by oil and gas drillers operating offshore and on federal land.
The Interior Department may waive royalty fees paid by oil and gas drillers operating offshore and on federal land. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The Interior Department’s decision to remove Florida’s coasts from its draft five-year offshore oil and gas drilling plan because of staunch opposition from the state has opened a floodgate of coastal state governments demanding similar treatment.

[Florida to Be Spared In Offshore Drilling Expansion, Zinke Says]

 

In turn, lawmakers from those states may be more supportive of their state’s right to decide the issue over President Donald Trump’s pursuit of so-called “energy dominance” via new oil and gas production on the outer continental shelf.

That could spell trouble for Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s vision of a robust offshore leasing plan as the majority of states along the Pacific and Atlantic seaboards have said they want the Florida treatment. 

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