PROVIDENCE – Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., on Thursday gave a pointed response to the Trump administration’s plan to vastly expand offshore drilling in several areas including off the coast of Rhode Island.
“There is not going to be drilling off of Rhode Island,” Whitehouse told Providence Business News.
Internal Controls & Audits: Keys to a Resilient Hospitality Business
In the fast-paced world of hospitality, where operations run 24 hours a day, 365 days…
Learn More
Ryan Zinke, secretary of the U.S. Interior Department, on Wednesday released a plan for 2019-2024 to allow for the exploration and development of oil and gas resources from the Atlantic to the Arctic. The plan would allow the auction of drilling rights to more than 90 percent of United States outer continental shelf.
“We are going to become the strongest energy superpower this world has ever known,” Zinke said during a conference call on Thursday.
The plan includes 47 potential lease sales in 25 of the 26 planning areas, including nine in the Atlantic Region. Offshore drilling has not been allowed along the East Coast since the 1980s.
The announcement came seven months after President Donald Trump revealed his intentions to expand offshore drilling. He signed an executive order in April, rolling back protections put into place under the Obama Administration.
Trump then argued the former policy “deprives our country of potentially thousands and thousands of jobs, and billions of dollars in wealth.”
Whitehouse, a Democrat and junior senator from Rhode Island, however, is skeptical the Interior’s plan will work. He pointed to the Obama Administration’s 2015 attempt to allow oil and gas drilling in U.S. coastal waters along the southern part of the country.
The policy was eventually withdrawn, and Whitehouse noted both Democrats and Republicans opposed the effort. Policy that could potentially damage the livelihood of coastal communities, he said, often transcends political lines.
“I’ve been to the coastal communities to talk about sea level rise … and these coastal communities treasure their shorelines. They want no part of offshore drilling,” he said.
Environmental advocates throughout the country, along with other Rhode Island political leaders, have come out in swift opposition to the plan.
Zinke reports 155 members of both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate have sent letters in support.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the length of time since offshore drilling has been allowed along the East Coast.
Eli Sherman is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Sherman@PBN.com, or follow him on Twitter @Eli_Sherman.
