President Trump used to own three New Jersey casinos that could have, on a clear day, offered views of the kind of offshore oil drilling rigs his administration wants to allow off the Atlantic seaboard.
But his administration has exempted Florida — home of Trump’s Mar-A-Lago property — from the threat of coastline oil exploration, saying the tourism industry there is too valuable to jeopardize.
Now New Jersey wants that exemption.
“We’d like equal treatment for N.J. and I’d like to meet with you to explain why,” Gov.-elect Phil Murphy wrote on Twitter Wednesday. “The Jersey shore is our pride and joy and an economic driver for our communities — we cannot allowing drilling off the coast.”
We’d like equal treatment for NJ and I’d like to meet with you to explain why. The Jersey shore is our pride and joy and an economic driver for our communities - we cannot allowing drilling off the coast.
— Phil Murphy (@PhilMurphyNJ) January 10, 2018
New Jersey elected officials raised a ruckus last week when the U.S. Department of the Interior, under Secretary Ryan Zinke, announced a plan to open virtually the entire U.S. coast to offshore exploration and drilling. At that point, Florida was still part of the plan.
That changed on Tuesday. Zinke issued a statement saying the Trump administration would not allow drilling for oil and gas off the coast of Florida after hearing from its Republican governor.
Zinke said that after meeting with Fla. Gov. Rick Scott and his leadership team, “I am removing Florida from consideration for any new oil and gas platforms.”
Apparently, Zinke learned from Scott that “Florida is unique and its coasts are heavily reliant on tourism as an economic driver.”
That flabbergasted officials, Democratic and Republican, in New Jersey, which has 130 miles of coastline and also is heavily dependent on summer tourism and year-round birding. Estimates put direct and indirect economic impact of the coast at about $45 billion.
A spokesman for Murphy, who takes office on Jan. 16, referred a request for an interview on the topic to the soon-to-be governor’s Twitter account.
New Jersey Republican Congressman Frank LoBiondo also took to social media, noting that during the Obama administration, he opposed consideration of opening the coast. Instead, that administration blocked any drilling off the Atlantic — which the Trump administration wants to reverse.
As I strongly opposed when Obama Admin tried to open Mid-Atlantic to drilling, I strongly oppose Trump Admin plan for same. New Jersey coastline supports hundreds of thousands of jobs, $45B tourism industry, recreational/commercial fishing operations & marine habitats
— Frank LoBiondo (@RepLoBiondo) January 10, 2018
LoBiondo also signed a letter sent by 13 members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation, including U.S. Senators Corey Booker and Robert Menendez, that requests a meeting at the Shore with federal officials.
“Given your recent meeting with Florida Governor Rick Scott, after which you decided to exclude Florida’s coasts from any offshore drilling, we believe that New Jersey also deserves the courtesy of a Secretarial visit,” the letter states. “We also request that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management consider holding a public hearing in New Jersey, in addition to the public meeting scheduled in Trenton, and that you consider doing so in a coastal community.”
Working w/ entire New Jersey Congressional delegation - Dem & GOP - in opposition to @Interior proposed drilling plan. As Florida is now apparently removed, so should all of the Atlantic. Coastal communities across New Jersey are opposed with good reason - simply not worth risk.
— Frank LoBiondo (@RepLoBiondo) January 10, 2018
The draft proposal by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, a part of the Interior Department, calls for expanded drilling in the Arctic and off the Atlantic coast and would open up waters off California. Originally, it would have allowed for drilling from Florida to Maine in U.S. waters, which has been blocked for decades. New Jersey’s territorial waters extend 3 nautical miles, or 3.5 statute miles, from shoreline. Federal waters extend for the next 22 miles.
But there are no specifics on where exploration or drilling would take place off New Jersey — if at all. The state falls into the North Atlantic map, which lists two potential leases, and also borders the Mid-Atlantic map, which lists three potential leases.
President Trump used to own three Atlantic City casinos: Trump Plaza Casino and Hotel, Trump Marina Hotel Casino, and Trump Taj Mahal. All failed as the city itself declined along with the rise of gambling competition from neighboring states, such as Pennsylvania.
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