Zinke's Decision To Exempt FL From Drilling "Should Have His Lawyers Cringing"

[hatrack]

EDIT

The extensive Zinke plan, which called for opening more than 90 percent of the Outer Continental Shelf for oil and gas leasing and scheduling 47 lease sales between 2019 and 2024, already was ripe for lawsuits, according to David Hayes, who was the Interior Department's deputy secretary and chief operating officer at points in the Clinton and Obama administrations.

"This proposal mirrors past proposals that have run into a buzzsaw of state opposition," he said. Zinke may have made things even worse for himself, though. His decision to remove Florida "should have his lawyers cringing," Hayes said. "It smacks of an impulsive, undisciplined, arbitrary process."

Part of Zinke's justification for taking Florida off the table was that it "is unique and its coasts are heavily reliant on tourism as an economic driver." California Rep. Ted Lieu was among those on Twitter to take umbrage at that. "Taking Florida off the table for offshore drilling but not California violates the legal standard of arbitrary and capricious agency action," Lieu wrote in a tweet. "California and other coastal states also rely on our beautiful coasts for tourism and our economy. I believe courts will strike this down."

On Tuesday, 37 democratic senators sent a letter to Zinke criticizing the plan. "This draft proposal is an ill-advised effort to circumvent public and scientific input, and we object to sacrificing public trust, community safety and economic security for the interests of the oil industry," the senators wrote.

EDIT

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/10012018/trump-offshore-oil-drilling-leases-florida-legal-questions-zinke-california-new-york-oregon

[exboyfil]

1. And the Mississippi Gulf Coast

past the Florida panhandle doesn't give a crap about their coast line.

[SHRED]

2. Zinke is a swamp rat

[mnhtnbb]

3. Our Dem Governor Roy Cooper (NC) was on CNN this morning

nailing Zinke for the hypocrisy of the decision to exempt Florida.

https://www.facebook.com/NCgovernor/videos/1966145647038686/?comment_id=1302951793142001&notif_id=1515682457622989&notif_t=feedback_reaction_generic

[NoMoreRepugs]

4. But but but Florida voted for his Orangeness...

in the end isn't that what is important to everything?

[Freethinker65]

5. Yep. That is what happens when unqualified agenda driven nominees get confirmed

A qualified agenda driven asshole would have known how to muddy the decision enough to make it look less political to slide by.

In the past, a court ruling on the matter would be obvious, and Zinke would have to reverse his decision. Now?

[BadgerMom]

6. Trump doesnt want a platform visible from Mar-a-Lago.

As corrupt as Zinke is, Trump is worse. I’m certain he told Zinke to back off in Florida.

[Shrike47]

7. If they think they are putting oil rigs off Oregons Coast, they should think again.