Source: Fast Company
Last December, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke stepped down from serving under President Trump. Secretary Zinke found himself under great scrutiny for advancing President Trump's ill-informed environmental agenda which included expanding access to oil under the sea. As anyone can imagine, these advancements of a policy designed to put both the environment and the citizens who live (and depend) on clean waters surrounding the United States were not very popular among the American public. Not to mention dangerous and potentially damaging to the American economy.
In light of this reality, Congress has taken action to solidify on paper (in writing) that any further off shore oil drilling (near Florida) would not occur. Hopefully other coastal States such as California will eventually secure the same protection from Congress. Congressional leaders felt necessary to intervene and write a letter to the acting Secretary of the Department of the Interior -- David Bernhardt -- to stop/not proceed with any further Oil Drilling off of the waters of the state of Florida. The letter is shown below in full:
David Bernhardt
Acting Secretary
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C Street N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20240
RE: Protect Florida's Coasts from Oil and Gas Drilling
Dear Acting Interior Secretary Bernhardt,
We write to urge you to protect the costs of Florida from oil and gas development. As you know, last year, former Interior Secretary Zinke announced that Florida would be exempt from any offshore drilling plans. However, we remain concerned that no formal action has been taken to prohibit drilling off Florida's coasts. Florida's natural resources and economy, as well as the military mission as expressed by the Department of Defense, cannot bear the risk and devastating impacts of offshore drilling. We urge you to take formal action to exempt drilling off Florida's coast from the five year plan for oil and gas lease sales.
Florida's economic well-being is dependent upon our state's fragile and treasured coasts. Clean coasts and healthy oceans are the fundamental underpinning of jobs and revenue in our communities. Florida's coastal communities thrive in concert with a healthy marine environment. Views littered with drilling platforms, industrialization of coastline and oil on our beaches spell disaster for Florida's economy and our neighbors who rely on tourism, fishing and related business.
We say, firsthand, the destruction offshore drilling can have on ocean health, coastlines, and tourism in 2010 during the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Tourism dropped across the state, including areas that were unaffected by the rig explosion. Even without a blowout, offshore oil rigs dump tons of drilling muds, fluids, and metal cuttings -- including toxic metals and carcinogens -- into the ocean, and pose a threat to human health, marine ecosystems, and wildlife.
While there are ample environmental and economic reasons to prohibit drilling off Florida's coasts, our national security and military readiness also require keeping the rigs away from Florida. The eastern Gulf of Mexico is a critical training area for our military and the Department of Defense has stated clearly that the area is an "irreplaceable national asset" for combat force readiness. Any oil and gas development would be an obstacle to military preparedness and national security.
Finally, the people of Florida are also clearly opposed to oil and gas development off our coast. A constitutional amendment on Florida's November 2018 ballot to ban offshore drilling in state waters passed overwhelmingly. Here is objective proof that Floridians recognize that the state's economy depends on a pristine environment, and that offshore drilling threatens Florida's future.
Florida relies on coastlines unencumbered by oil and gas drilling to sustain its economy, preserve its natural resources, and protect our nation's military. We urge you to exempt Florida's coasts from any offshore drilling plans. We must preserve and protect Florida's future.
After reading the above letter, I thought to myself (since I live in Southern California), why does California not have the same ban on oil and gas development? Take a trip to Santa Barbara and look out to see the sight line filled with oil rigs -- which makes zero sense to me. Further, take a trip to Santa Monica and go surfing or swimming in the ocean. See if you are one of the unlucky swimmers/surfers who emerges from the ocean with a 'tar ball' stuck to your swimsuit. Any person who has had this or a similar experience would immediately call for an outright ban to oil and gas development in the form of rigs off the coast of any land.
With the current transition toward clean sustainable energy in motion (and funded), the time has come to start reducing the amount of oil which is brought to the surface and distributed globally. There are plenty of other sources of oil to fuel the global need. The move toward cleaner energy is inevitable. Just last week, a major energy convention convened named CERA. At the conference, the CEO of BP Bob Dudley spoke to the audience about the transition toward renewable energy:
BEYOND PETROLEUM, PART DEUX : BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley called on the oil and gas industry to diversify if it wants to maintain its social license in the face of calls for more aggressive climate policies. "We have to move from being pure-play oil and gas companies into broader energy businesses," Dudley said in his speech to CERAWeek. "It means improving the dialogue we have with policymakers around the world, including those behind the Green New Deal. And it means being increasingly open and transparent with our shareholders. We need to demonstrate that we share the common goal of a low carbon future and that we are in action toward it."
With the Green New Deal gaining traction as a commitment across the energy sector, the transition away from fossil fuels is becoming increasingly greater. Large oil companies are already investing heavily in renewable energy despite what the popular news chooses to report. The days of oil are slowly fading.
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