Bipartisan Group Of Governors Fights Back Against Trump’s Push To Drill Everywhere

In a rare moment of bipartisanship, Democratic and Republican leaders joined together on Thursday to push back against the Trump administration’s new plan to allow off-shore drilling virtually anywhere and everywhere – including the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Arctic.

As the Washington Post noted, “[P]otential environmental disasters are on the minds of numerous Atlantic-coast governors who oppose drilling in four planning areas from Maine to the Florida Keys. In a resounding bipartisan call, Republicans and Democrats have said in no uncertain terms that oil and gas drilling should not be allowed.”

According to the report, GOP Govs. Larry Hogan (MD), Henry McMaster (SC) and Rick Scott (FL) joined Democratic Govs. Roy Cooper (NC) and John Carney (DE) in opposing what is the largest off-shore drilling expansion in history.

On the Pacific coast, “Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, California Gov. Jerry Brown and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown issued a joint statement Thursday opposing Zinke’s plan,” the Washington Examiner notes.

Environmental groups were also quick to blast the move.

In a statement, Sierra Club president Michael Brune said the Trump administration is “trying to sell out our coastal communities, our waters, and our climate in order to please corporate polluters.”

“Millions of Americans have raised their voices to send a message, loud and clear, that they do not want offshore drilling off our coasts, but rather than listen to the people they are supposed to work for, Trump and Zinke are listening to the industry that’s bankrolled their campaigns and filled their administration,” Brune added.

It’s important to note that the president received more than $8 million from the energy sector to fund his inauguration last year.

Today’s move is just the latest in a long list of actions taken by a president who seemingly doesn’t care about or understand environmental issues.

Over his first year in office, the administration’s anti-climate agenda has set the country back decades – whether it’s pulling out of the Paris climate agreement, repealing the Obama-era Clean Power Plan or allowing coal companies to dump their sludge into American waterways, among many other things.

Just last week, Trump openly wished for “good old global warming” to heat up parts of the country experiencing frigid temperatures.

Whether it’s his rhetoric or his dangerous policy agenda, this is a president who continues to demonstrate just how little he understands environmental issues.

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Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.

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