California plans to obstruct the transportation of petroleum from offshore oil rigs through its state, in an attempt to halt US government’s plan to promote offshore drilling.
This is one of the most powerful measures that have been taken, in order to stop the offshore drilling expansion, that the US government wants to expand, Reuters reported.
California’s officials sent a letter on Wednesday to the US Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), calling the program manager, Kelly Hammerle, to put a halt on the draft proposal, as the public did not give its input on the matter.
California has challenged President Donald Trump again in the past for issues regarding climate changes, efficiency of automobiles and immigration.
Except from California, North and South Carolina, Delaware and Washington, are also against the oil drilling expansion, as this can result in polluting beaches, harming the marine environment and hurting tourism in general.
Recently, the government of USA announced that it will develop the National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program (National OCS Program) for 2019-2024.
According to the US government, this program proposes to make over 90% of the total OCS acreage and more than 98% of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources in federal offshore areas available to consider for future exploration and development.
Earlier in January, Florida was excluded from the US plan to further exploit offshore oil and gas. With a published statement, Ryan Zinke, Secretary of the US Department of the Interior, explained that the decision to exempt Florida from the offshore oil and gas exploitation proposal, was made after Florida’s Governor, Rick Scott, request.
Specifically, Mr. Scott highlighted that such a plan may cause unnecessary risks to the state of Florida, whose economy relies heavily on tourism, because of its coasts.
