Zinke: Oil and gas exploration off the Pacific coast might not happen
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke expressed doubt Tuesday that oil and gas exploration will happen off the Pacific coast as part of the Trump administration’s proposal to dramatically expand offshore leasing, saying California, Oregon and Washington have “no known resources of any weight” for energy companies to extract.
Discussing the Atlantic coast while testifying before the Senate Energy Committee, the secretary similarly described Maine as a state with little recoverable oil and gas.
Zinke stopped short of saying that the three Pacific states would be exempted from the president’s plan to offer leases on 95 percent of the outer continental shelf. But in his reply to a question from Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), he acknowledged her state’s deep opposition.
“I think I’m going to mark down Washington as opposed to drilling,” Zinke said after Cantwell asked him to extend the public comment period for the drilling proposal. It is clear “the state of Washington is deeply, passionately opposed to oil and gas drilling off the coast,” he continued, promising that will be reflected in the next draft of the plan.
California and Oregon also are strongly against drilling off their shores, as are virtually all states along the Atlantic coast.
Zinke’s suggestion that the Pacific coast could be spared from drilling came in the last stage of a hearing that at times was heated. The former Navy SEAL commander engaged in several sharp exchanges with Democrats, who criticized the cost of his air travel on private aircraft and seeming favoritism for the oil and gas industry.
Much more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2018/03/13/zinke-oil-and-gas-exploration-off-the-pacific-coast-might-not-happen/?utm_term=.8289601ba387