Trump Administration Proposes Opening Nearly All U.S. Coastal Waters To Oil Drilling, Resolving Long-Standing Concern That Most Of The American Coastline Was Still Visible Without A Rig In Front Of It

WASHINGTON. The Department of the Interior unveiled a draft plan on January 4 to open more than 90 percent of the nation's outer continental shelf to oil and gas leasing, resolving a long-standing concern within the administration that vast stretches of American coastline were still being looked at primarily for their views.

The proposal, the largest offshore leasing program ever put forward, would make federal waters available off the Atlantic Coast, the Pacific Coast, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and the Arctic, including areas that had been protected from drilling for decades. Officials framed the action as a necessary step toward what the President has repeatedly called "energy dominance," a condition under which the United States produces so much oil that it begins running out of places to keep it.

"For too long, Americans who live near the ocean have had to enjoy that ocean without the reassuring silhouette of a platform on the horizon," said one source within the administration, noting that 25 of the country's 26 offshore planning areas would be placed on the table. "We consider that a gap in coverage."

Within days, the Interior Department announced that the coast of Florida would be removed from the plan, citing the state's heavy reliance on tourism and the concerns of Gov. Rick Scott, who had requested the exemption shortly before launching a campaign for U.S. Senate. The decision spared, among other shorelines, the stretch of Florida coast nearest the President's Mar-a-Lago club, an outcome the administration characterized as unrelated to anything.

Governors of other coastal states, several of them Republicans, promptly asked whether their own beaches might also be declared too scenic to drill, and were informed that the matter was complicated and being reviewed. Environmental groups, commercial fishermen, and coastal tourism boards filed objections, all of which were duly entered into a public record that the administration confirmed continues to exist.

At press time, the President had reassured the country that he loves the ocean very much and wants to see it filled with as many beautiful American oil platforms as it can comfortably hold.