Florida Republicans optimistic Donald Trump’s drilling expansion won’t bring rigs near Florida’s coast

Republican members of Florida’s congressional delegation say President Donald Trump’s aggressive energy policies don’t need to threaten Florida’s coast. Meanwhile, environmental groups are prepared to take any necessary legal action to guarantee that.

While an expansion of drilling has been a centerpiece of Trump’s agenda, Republicans in the House think that can be accomplished without offshore oil drilling near the Sunshine State. On his first day in office, Trump repealed a permanent ban issued by former President Joe Biden earlier this month on new drilling leases in parts of the Outer Continental Shelf, including all waters around Florida.

But U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, a Palm Harbor Republican, said early moves by Trump represent a step back from extreme policies in the Democratic administration.

“President Trump has taken action to reverse many of the Biden Administration’s disastrous energy policies that thwarted domestic energy production,” Bilirakis said.

“By reversing these harmful policies, President Trump sends an unmistakable signal to the world. The United States has the world’s largest oil and gas reserves; we can produce these energy resources more cleanly and efficiently than anywhere else in the world; and we are going to use every tool at our disposal to produce them. Restoring American energy independence means greater energy security for our allies, lower prices for consumers at home, and more strength abroad.”

The Congressman, who represents coastal Citrus, Hernando and Pasco counties, said that doesn’t mean Trump will open Florida’s coast. He noted that in Trump’s first term, the President in 2020 extended a moratorium on offshore oil drilling off Florida’s Gulf Coast and Atlantic Coast for 10 years.

“I look forward to working alongside President Trump to achieve that goal while protecting Florida’s uniquely sensitive and pristine natural resources as we did in 2020 when President Trump extended a moratorium for the Eastern Gulf until 2032,” he said.

Similarly, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, a Longboat Key Republican, has expressed optimism that Florida’s coastline will be safe from drilling under Trump.

“I look forward to working with the incoming Trump administration to expand domestic energy production while continuing to protect Florida’s Gulf Coast from offshore drilling to preserve our tourism-based economy and allow for military training and testing activities that are essential to U.S. military readiness,” Buchanan told POLITICO’s E&E News.

Buchanan has carried legislation with U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, a Tampa Democrat, to permanently ban drilling off Florida’s coast, and Florida’s federal officials traditionally supported such a moratorium across party lines. That could be important in a closely divided Congress where Republicans currently have just a 218-215 majority over Democrats.

Environmental groups don’t want to leave anything to chance. Attorneys for Earthjustice maintain Trump had no legal authority to rescind protections put in place by Biden utilizing the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.

“We don’t believe that Trump has authority to revoke Biden’s withdrawal,” said Brettny Hardy, a senior attorney for the Earthjustice Oceans Program. “The only court to consider this issue in the District of Alaska determined that the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act only gives a president the authority to issue a withdrawal but does not provide authority to revoke a withdrawal, once issued.”

The group stands ready to make the case in court.

“We are currently reviewing our options in terms of a legal challenge,” Hardy said. “Trump’s withdrawal of the eastern Gulf and the Atlantic (from North Carolina down to Florida) is still in place — it withdraws those areas from leasing temporarily until 2032. That covers the vast majority of the eastern Gulf (a little bit is carved out for leasing) but effectively the entire eastern gulf (same area that Biden withdrew permanently).”

The White House has not returned a request for comment on whether Trump intends to offer new leases in Florida. But an executive order issued by the President on “Unleashing American Energy” encouraged energy exploration and production in the Outer Continental Shelf, and makes no mention of carving out waters near Florida’s coast.