Florida environmental leaders cheer Joe Biden’s offshore oil drilling ban

Florida environmentalists are celebrating a long-awaited victory as President Joe Biden has banned any oil and gas drilling off Florida’s coast.

The Democratic President weeks ahead of the end of his term issued an order withdrawing areas of the Outer Continental Shelf, including all areas off the coast of Florida, from housing new leases for offshore oil and gas exploration. No leases exist there now.

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, a Tampa Democrat, applauded the decision. She had previously sponsored the Gulf of Mexico Economic and Environmental Restoration Act, legislation to ban drilling in the eastern Gulf, but that has never been able to pass Congress and reach a friendly President. She said Biden’s order would preserve the state’s coast for years.

“Clean water and clean beaches are central to Florida’s healthy environment, economy and way of life,” she said.

“Floridians voted in 2018 to prohibit oil drilling in state waters (only nine miles offshore), but oil and gas companies still had their eyes on federal waters in the eastern Gulf. I ran for Congress to champion permanent coastal protections and to keep oil drilling away from Florida, so I am thrilled that President Joe Biden answered our call to ban drilling off the Florida Gulf Coast and thereby safeguard our communities, fishing and tourism economies.”

Mark Ferrulo, Executive Director for Progress Florida, said the fact Biden cited the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, legislation upheld by the Supreme Court over the desires of former President Donald Trump during his first term, likely means the impact remains even after Trump returns to the White House.

“This latest move by President Biden is the closest we have come to permanent protection in this now 40-year-plus fight,” Ferrulo said. “Because the mechanism used and the Act used to issue these protections was already upheld by the federal courts when Trump was President gives me a lot of confidence this permanent ban will hold. My understanding is only an act of Congress can overturn it.”

Environmental groups cheered the move.

“Audubon Florida celebrates President Biden’s declaration making permanent the ban on oil and gas exploration in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico,” Audubon Florida posted on X in a message citing Republican and Democratic support for drilling limits.

“Drilling in the Eastern Gulf has always drawn bipartisan opposition, with a history of leadership from decision-makers including Rep. Kathy Castor, Rep. Vern Buchanan, Senators (Marco) Rubio and (Rick) Scott and President Trump, who in 2020 extended the expiring moratorium until 2032 during his first term in the White House. Not only does this moratorium protect the region’s sensitive and valuable coastal resources and economy, it preserves the ability of Florida’s military bases to continue to train and serve our country’s defense.”

But Trump was among the only Florida-based politicians to immediately criticize Biden’s ban.

“Biden is doing everything possible to make the transition as difficult as possible, from Lawfare such as has never been seen before, to costly and ridiculous Executive Orders on the Green New Scam and other money wasting Hoaxes,” Trump posted on Truth Social immediately after the White House announced the oil drilling ban. “Fear not, these ‘Orders’ will all be terminated shortly, and we will become a Nation of Common Sense and Strength.”

But Castor said Florida leaders of all kinds likely will embrace the decision, knowing the impacts of drilling on the economy. She cited the most notorious accident that impacted Florida’s coastal communities, the deadly explosion of BP’s Deepwater Horizon.

“Floridians understand the damage that oil drilling and extreme events can do to our pocketbooks and way of life,” Castor said. “The Gulf of Mexico BP Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010 was a wake-up call as Florida business owners suffered widespread economic losses and pollution harmed marine life.

“Offshore drilling is dirty and dangerous and inconsistent with the clean, tourist-friendly beaches we value in the Sunshine State. It puts our national security at risk by disrupting critical military training conducted by MacDill AFB and other military installations off Florida’s coasts. I urge my colleagues in Congress to build on this momentum and pass the bipartisan Florida Coastal Protection Act to enshrine these safeguards into law, protecting them against future administrative reversals.”