U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-WA) said Washington should be added to the list of states exempt from President Trump’s offshore drilling plan.
On Wednesday, the United States Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced that Florida would be the only state in the nation exempted from Trump’s plan to open nearly all federal waters to oil drilling.
Kilmer, a Gig Harbor Democrat, noted that the exclusion of Florida, where the president owns a seaside hotel, drew widespread, bipartisan opposition. Administration officials cited the impact a major disaster would have on tourism as the big reason why Florida’s costal federal waters should be exempt from deepwater drilling.
Kilmer made the following statement Thursday:
“What’s true for Florida is true for Washington’s coast and every other coastal community,” Kilmer said.
“The job of the government is to protect our public lands and pass these national treasures on to our kids, not give them away to the highest bidder, and in the process put our environment, wildlife and economy at risk,” he added.
Earlier this week, Kilmer voiced his opposition to the offshore drilling plan in a statement. In it, he warned about the danger the plan poses to Washington state’s fisheries, shellfish growers, tourism and jobs and called for expanding renewable energy.
