(C) Florida Phoenix This story was originally published by Florida Phoenix and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . FL’s local and state officials call on President Biden to prevent new offshore drilling leases [1] ['Mitch Perry', 'More From Author', '- July'] Date: 2023-07-26 More than 100 elected officials from across the country – including 28 from Florida – signed a letter this week urging President Joe Biden to prevent new offshore drilling leases in the upcoming Northern Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2023-2028. “Dirty and dangerous offshore oil drilling threatens our communities and our environment while exacerbating the climate crisis,” the July 25 letter stated. “Climate change is threatening our oceans, our coasts, and our planet, and new leasing for offshore drilling would lock in decades of climate-harming carbon emissions.” The letter also referenced the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster that killed eleven people when more than 200 million gallons of oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico. “Oil from the spill tarred hundreds of miles of Gulf coast shoreline stretching from Texas to Florida and devastated coastal economies. Losses to the seafood industry alone were estimated at nearly $1 billion. The disaster had deadly impacts for dolphins, whales, sea turtles, and more.” Bans on offshore drilling Campaigning in Tampa for president in September 2020, Biden promised that if he was elected, there would “be no offshore drilling,” and said that he believed that there should be a permanent moratorium. A ban on offshore drilling in Florida was extended to 2032 by former President Trump in 2020. Meanwhile, U.S. Reps. Democrat Kathy Castor and Republican Vern Buchanan reintroduced legislation in March to make permanent the moratorium on oil drilling off Florida’s coast. And U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott have co-sponsored legislation that would codify Trump’s executive order to keep the current moratorium in place until 2032. In addition, New Jersey Democrat Frank Pallone reintroduced legislation in Congress earlier this year that would permanently prohibit the U.S. Department of Interior from issuing leases for the exploration, development or production of oil and gas in the North Atlantic, Mid-Atlantic, South-Atlantic and Straits of Florida planning areas of the U.S. outer continental shelf. “President Biden, your Five-Year Plan represents the best opportunity to bring the management of our offshore federal resources into alignment with your climate goals,” the letter states. “Preventing new dirty and dangerous offshore drilling in your final Five-Year Plan will protect coastal communities from devastating pollution, support healthy marine ecosystems, safeguard ocean wildlife, and encourage a clean energy future. Please issue a final 2023–2028 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program (“Five-Year Plan”) with no new lease sales.” Florida’s local, state officials on the list The letter was prepared by Oceana, a nonprofit focused on ocean conservation. In the letter, nearly a third of the elected officials on the list came from Florida. Those officials are mostly from local municipalities, such as mayors and vice mayors, council members and city commissioners. Another seven officials in the letter are state House members in the Florida Legislature. City officials: Council member Jennifer Andreu, city of Plantation; Council member Kathleen Beckman city of Clearwater; Commissioner Nancy Metayer Bowen, city of Coral Springs; Council person Jennifer Brahier, city of Pensacola; Vice Mayor Mark Bunker, city of Clearwater; Mayor Joy Cooper, Hallendale Beach; Council member Scott Crater, city of Sanibel; Council Member Gina Driscoll, city of St. Petersburg; Commissioner Jeff Gow, city of Dunedin; Vice Mayor Mark Grill, city of St. Pete Beach; Mayor Wyatt Hoover, town of Melbourne Beach; Mayor Teri Johnston, city of Key West; Council member Elizabeth Jolin, Islamorada; Mayor Brent Latham, North Bay Village; Mayor Shelly Petrolia, city of Delray Beach; Commissioner Idelma Quintana, city of Hollywood; Mayor Nancy Sikes-Kline, city of Augustine; Vice Mayor David Vigliotti, city of Satellite Beach; Mayor Bobby Wagner, city of Destin; County officials: Commissioner Beam Furr, Broward County; Mayor Pro Tempore Holly Merrill Raschein, Monroe County. State House members: Republican Rep. Linda Chaney; Democratic Reps. Lindsay Cross, Anna Eskamani, Rita Harris, Michele Rayner-Goolsby, Katherine Waldron and Marie Woodson. [END] --- [1] Url: https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/07/26/fls-local-and-state-officials-call-on-president-biden-to-prevent-new-offshore-drilling-leases/ Published and (C) by Florida Phoenix Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/floridaphoenix/