Government Energy Policy, Business and Technology

Governors Press for Exemptions From Expanded Offshore Drilling

Route Fifty: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called the U.S. Interior secretary’s decision to exempt Florida from a draft plan expanding offshore drilling along the Atlantic coast “arbitrary” in a Monday letter demanding the same waiver.

Secretary Ryan Zinke’s determination came before his department has even concluded the public fact-finding process and prompted an immediate Twitter reaction from five governors including Cuomo.

Cuomo opposes the addition of nine offshore drilling lease sales in the Atlantic as part of the National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program. The state instead has an “ambitious agenda” to develop offshore wind energy, he said in his letter:

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