Nobody is surprised that President Trump's proposal to open most of the nation's federal waters to drilling has sparked opposition from environmentalists and lawmakers in states that have long opposed oil and gas operations off their coasts.
But who would have thought the oil industry and its allies in Louisiana would be miffed?
After all, Trump campaigned on a pledge to lead America to "energy dominance," and he has repeatedly made it clear that means producing more oil and gas.
So, what happened?
In a nutshell, good-old-boy politics and incompetence.
Trump and his interior secretary Ryan Zinke have no one but themselves to blame for the chaos that erupted after the latter announced last week that he will exempt waters off Florida from the drilling plan.
Before that, at least the oil industry and states like Louisiana, Texas and others that have embraced drilling were on Trump's side. Now, hardly anyone is.
Zinke has yet to clarify exactly what he means, but it's hard to imagine a way to exempt Florida without keeping most or all of the eastern Gulf of Mexico off limits to drilling. And that is seen by many as the best opportunity for Louisiana, especially Houma-Thibodaux, to bring new jobs and investment to an area that has struggled amid a three-and-a-half year oil bust.
So much is wrong about the way Zinke and the Trump administration have handled this that it's difficult to compress all of it into a small package. But here are a few of the worst offenses raised by critics:
It reeks of favoritism: Announcing his decision on Twitter, Zinke said he removed Florida after listening to Gov. Rick Scott's concern about the potential impact on the environment and the state's major tourism industry. "He is a straightforward leader that can be trusted."
That added fuel to the lawsuits environmental groups were already contemplating.
“The Administrative Procedure Act requires there to be a reasonable rationale behind agency decisions, and that they can’t be arbitrary and capricious,” Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, told The Washington Post, referring to a 1946 law governing major regulatory changes. “So, saying Florida is exempt because Rick Scott is straightforward and trustworthy? That Florida’s coastlines are unique? That seems to be the definition of arbitrary and capricious.”
Other governors complained their coasts and tourism industries are unique too. They want the same exemption Zinke gave Florida.
It's hypocritical: “President Trump has directed me to rebuild our offshore oil and gas program in a manner that supports our national energy policy and also takes into consideration the local and state voice,” Zinke said in his tweet.
But in letter to Zinke, U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, a Republican whose district includes northern Terrebonne and Lafourche, says that rationale contradicts the Interior Department's own budget documents, which state the “sale of public resources from federal water owned by all Americans (should) benefit all Americans.”
“How can DOI call offshore energy a federal resource that should yield a national benefit and turn around to grant full deference to the adjacent ‘local and state voice’ in deciding whether to pursue development of a resource which belongs to all Americans?” Graves asks in his letter.
It's fails the political smell test: Zinke's decision is a gift to critics who suggest Trump is trying to benefit Scott, a fellow Republican the president has suggested should run for U.S. Senate. Others have suggested Trump wants to keep oil off the shores of Palm Beach, home to the president's Mar-a-Lago resort.
Last week, I suggested Trump's drilling plan faced an uphill fight from environmentalists, coastal states and Congress, as well as low oil prices that could dissuade investment even if new areas are opened to development. This week, the administration's own incompetence made a long shot even longer.
-- Executive Editor Keith Magill can be reached at 857-2201 or keith.magill@houmatoday.com.