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Advocacy Groups Say Gulf Islands National Seashore, Other Parks At Risk From Offshore Drilling
May 24, 2018
Environmental conservation groups say Gulf Islands National Seashore and 10 other national parks in Florida are threatened by White House proposals to open to oil drilling currently protected parts of the nation’s outer continental shelf and to revise the 2016 Well Control Rule, according to a report released Wednesday.
Nicholas Lund, co-author of the report issued by the National Parks Conservation Association and the Natural Resources Defense Council, told reporters that the proposed changes put more than 9,000 Florida jobs at risk. The proposals could also cost Florida $876 million in annual economic output, according to Lund, a senior manager with parks association.
“The economic output from the national parks and monuments in Florida is a significant force in the coastal economy of the state,” the 38-page report states. “The economic output measure goes far beyond just visitors’ spending and includes the ripples of activity their visits generate: the spending of both the businesses they patronize and the communities their tourism supports. Many out-of-town visitors of coastal national parks identify a park as their primary reason for traveling to the area.”
The report focused on the potential impacts of oil and gas drilling on different sections of the nation.
Gov. Rick Scott and the state’s congressional delegation have voiced opposition to the plan to open to drilling previously protected parts of the nation’s outer continental shelf — a jurisdictional term describing submerged lands 10.36 statutory miles off Florida’s West Coast and three nautical miles off the East Coast.
In January, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke appeared briefly in Tallahassee to announce drilling would not occur off Florida’s coasts. But the White House’s position has not yet been formalized.
by The News Service of Florida with contribution from NorthEscambia.com
Comments
6 Responses to “Advocacy Groups Say Gulf Islands National Seashore, Other Parks At Risk From Offshore Drilling”
Florida is the new California.
I support the drilling. I dont listen to quacks.
I’m confused by some Trump supporters not being for this. You voted for industry to rape and pillage.
The White House group needs to remember who put them in the White House in FL.
This beautiful white sand does not need to be ruined by the money grubbers who seek only the color green!
Where do these people think their natural gas and gasoline come from? If they are going to take a firm “no drilling” stand, they should also make a statement by parking their cars and turning off their AC’s.
Mr. Lund’s report is unsubstantiated. I am in Florida state parks often, and no amount of offshore activity is going to discourage visitors. Especially when drilling activities are well out of sight on the outer continental shelf. Where did he come up with $876 million. Specifically, what Florida jobs would be at risk? Wouldn’t these proposed changes create jobs? I understand people’s concern for our environment, especially after the BP debacle, and I am not debating those concerns. What I debate is the report itself.