East Coast Republicans Slam Trump Administrations Offshore Drilling Plan

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Gov. Rick Scott were among the first to criticize the proposal.

The Trump administration’s plan to open nearly all U.S. waters to oil drilling is already taking heat from an unlikely source: Republicans.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) swiftly released statements on Thursday opposing Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s proposal to allow oil and gas companies to drill on the Atlantic coast for the first time since the 1980s.

“I urge Secretary Zinke to recognize the Florida Congressional delegation’s bipartisan efforts to maintain and extend the moratorium in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, and remove this area for future planning purposes,” Rubio said.

In a tweet, Scott, a close Trump ally, said he “already asked to immediately meet with Secretary Zinke to discuss the concerns I have with this plan and the crucial need to remove Florida from consideration.”


More (Includes video): https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/republicans-offshore-oil_us_5a4e8fb1e4b003133ec6852e



Fire boats douse the blazing remnants of the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.