Gov. Ron DeSantis urged the Department of the Interior to roll back plans for offshore drilling on Florida's coast while speaking in Crystal River this week, saying the initiative would universally weaken protections under a 2020 executive order.
The request follows a plan by the Trump administration to open offshore drilling beginning in 2029 and 2030, with Florida's waters on the chopping block after areas near other Gulf of America states open up in 2027.
Notably, the area has been largely untouched for four decades. The plan would also affect areas off the California coast and Alaska.
“I thought it was very thoughtful policy in 2020. Now, what the Interior Department is proposing to do is really to go back off that policy, and I think that would weaken protections that we worked very hard to establish offshore,” DeSantis said.
Back then, Florida lawmakers were successful in keeping offshore drilling away from Florida until at least 2032. The current proposal could alter those plans very quickly.
If approved, drilling would take place at least 100 miles from shore.
The governor also noted the proposal could very well affect the panhandle's key military facilities. Penscola is home to a Naval Air Station, along with an intelligence and flight training facility nearby.
"Part of its environmental, but part of its military training," DeSantis noted. "If you go talk to folks up in the panhandle who are stationed there, they will say it's really important to have that access to be able to do key training."
The governor is hoping President Trump thinks twice. The problem could also set up an interesting predicament between Gov. DeSantis and Trump, given DeSantis' potential 2028 presidential aspirations.
Both have become close after past tension during the 2024 presidential cycle.
"We hope that they double down on the 2020 policy, and not push ahead with what the interior wants to do now," DeSantis concluded.
