Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava on Thursday responded to a plan from the Trump administration that will allow for new oil drilling off the coasts of California and Florida.
The oil industry has been seeking access to new offshore areas, including Southern California and off the coast of Florida, as a way to boost U.S. energy security and jobs.
The federal government has not allowed drilling in federal waters in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, which includes offshore Florida and part of offshore Alabama, since 1995, because of concerns about oil spills. California has some offshore oil rigs, but there has been no new leasing in federal waters since the mid-1980s.
In a statement, Levine Cava said she opposed any oil drilling off Florida’s coast and said any drilling accidents that could happen could affect the ecosystem and the economy that supports hundreds of thousands of jobs in tourism, fishing, hospitality, and outdoor recreation.
Her statement reads in part:
“Miami-Dade is also on the front lines of the climate crisis. Expanding offshore drilling, especially as we face rising seas and stronger storms, takes us in the wrong direction at a time when we should be moving faster toward clean and renewable energy. Our residents deserve investments that strengthen resilience, reduce emissions, and safeguard public health, not policies that increase risks and further dependence on oil.”
Levine Cava said she is urging federal and state decision-makers to reject any proposals that “endangers our waters, our wildlife, and our economic future.”
A frequent Trump ally, Sen. Rick Scott, a Florida Republican, has also opposed plans for offshore drilling.
Scott helped persuade Trump officials to drop a similar offshore plan in 2018 when he was governor.
Last week, Scott and fellow Florida Republican Sen. Ashley Moody co-sponsored a bill to maintain a moratorium on offshore drilling in the state that Trump signed in his first term.
“As Floridians, we know how vital our beautiful beaches and coastal waters are to our state’s economy, environment and way of life,” Scott said in a statement. “I will always work to keep Florida’s shores pristine and protect our natural treasures for generations to come.”
Plans to allow drilling off California, Alaska and Florida’s coast
The administration’s plan proposes six offshore lease sales between 2027 and 2030 in areas along the California coast.
It also calls for new drilling off the coast of Florida in areas at least 100 miles from that state’s shore. The area targeted for leasing is adjacent to an area in the Central Gulf of Mexico that already contains thousands of wells and hundreds of drilling platforms.
The five-year plan also would compel more than 20 lease sales off the coast of Alaska, including a newly designated area known as the High Arctic, more than 200 miles offshore in the Arctic Ocean.
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