No oil drilling off Florida coast, Trump administration says

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Gov. Scott explains why he opposes drilling off Fla. coast

The Republican thanks President Trump and the White House for the exemption.

The White House will not allow companies to drill for oil off the coast of Florida, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said Tuesday after a brief meeting with the state's governor.

The change of course comes five days after Zinke announced the offshore drilling plan and highlights the political importance of Florida, where President Donald Trump narrowly won the state's 29 electoral votes in the 2016 election and has encouraged Gov. Rick Scott to run for Senate.

Zinke met with Scott at the Tallahassee airport before announcing that waters in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean would be "off the table" for drilling. 

Zinke announced plans last week to greatly expand offshore oil drilling from the Atlantic to the Arctic and Pacific oceans, including several possible drilling operations off Florida, where drilling is now blocked. The plan was immediately met with bipartisan opposition on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.

Scott, who is expected to run for Senate later this year, came out against the Trump administration plan when it was first announced, saying his top priority is to ensure that Florida's natural resources are protected.

Other Republican governors also oppose the plan, including Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and Massachusetts Gov. Charles Baker.

"For Floridians we are not drilling off the coast of Florida, which clearly the governor has expressed that's important," Zinke said, adding that he knew when he announced the drilling plan last week that it would spark discussion across the country.

"Our tactic was open everything up, then meet with the governors, meet with the stakeholders so that when we shaped it, it was right," he told reporters at a news conference Tuesday night. "The president made it very clear that local voices count."

When asked what caused the administration to change its position on Florida drilling, Zinke said bluntly, "The governor."

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Scott said he was pleased at the administration's change of heart.

"It's a good day for Florida," he said, adding, "I think it's very important to continue our efforts to take care of our environment."

Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson said the meeting with Zinke was "a political stunt orchestrated by the Trump administration to help Rick Scott," who Nelson said has long wanted to drill off Florida's coast.

"This may be good news for Florida, but it’s a huge slap in the face to every other coastal state now threatened by dangerous drilling," said Jacki Lopez of the Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity. "Zinke’s slipshod revision underscores the Trump administration’s foolish disregard for offshore drilling’s huge pollution risks. These guys are incredibly reckless, and every misguided decision they make is a new gamble with our fragile ocean environments."

Zinke said last week that the drilling plan called for responsible development that would boost jobs and economic security while providing billions of dollars to fund conservation along U.S. coastlines.

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The five-year plan would open 90 percent of the nation's offshore reserves to development by private companies, Zinke said, with 47 leases proposed off the nation's coastlines from 2019 to 2024. Nineteen sales would be off Alaska, 12 in the Gulf of Mexico, nine in the Atlantic and seven in the Pacific, including six off California.

Industry groups praised the announcement, the most expansive offshore drilling proposal in decades. The plan follows Trump's executive order in April encouraging more drilling rights in federal waters, part of the administration's strategy to help the U.S. achieve "energy dominance" in the global market.

A coalition of more than 60 environmental groups denounced the plan, saying it would impose "severe and unacceptable harm" to America's oceans, coastal economies, public health and marine life.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.