Zinke's Decision To Exempt FL From Drilling "Should Have His Lawyers Cringing" [View all]

[hatrack]

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The extensive Zinke plan, which called for opening more than 90 percent of the Outer Continental Shelf for oil and gas leasing and scheduling 47 lease sales between 2019 and 2024, already was ripe for lawsuits, according to David Hayes, who was the Interior Department's deputy secretary and chief operating officer at points in the Clinton and Obama administrations.

"This proposal mirrors past proposals that have run into a buzzsaw of state opposition," he said. Zinke may have made things even worse for himself, though. His decision to remove Florida "should have his lawyers cringing," Hayes said. "It smacks of an impulsive, undisciplined, arbitrary process."

Part of Zinke's justification for taking Florida off the table was that it "is unique and its coasts are heavily reliant on tourism as an economic driver." California Rep. Ted Lieu was among those on Twitter to take umbrage at that. "Taking Florida off the table for offshore drilling but not California violates the legal standard of arbitrary and capricious agency action," Lieu wrote in a tweet. "California and other coastal states also rely on our beautiful coasts for tourism and our economy. I believe courts will strike this down."

On Tuesday, 37 democratic senators sent a letter to Zinke criticizing the plan. "This draft proposal is an ill-advised effort to circumvent public and scientific input, and we object to sacrificing public trust, community safety and economic security for the interests of the oil industry," the senators wrote.

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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/10012018/trump-offshore-oil-drilling-leases-florida-legal-questions-zinke-california-new-york-oregon