Cuomo asks Zinke to remove New York from offshore drilling expansion

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) responded to news Tuesday that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke was removing Florida from expanded offshore drilling by calling on Zinke to also remove New York.

“New York doesn’t want drilling off our coast either,” Cuomo tweeted. “Where do we sign up for a waiver @SecretaryZinke?”

New York doesn’t want drilling off our coast either. Where do we sign up for a waiver @SecretaryZinke? https://t.co/dt1rJAEna1

— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) January 9, 2018

Last week, Zinke announced a massive expansion of offshore oil and natural gas drilling in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, including areas off the coasts of Maine, California, Florida and Alaska.

{mosads}

But on Tuesday, Zinke announced that he wouldn’t allow offshore drilling in waters near Florida after meeting with that state’s governor, Rick Scott (R), to discuss Scott’s objections to the plan.

“I support the governor’s position that Florida is unique and its coasts are heavily reliant on tourism as an economic driver,” he said in a statement.

“As a result of discussion with Gov. Scott’s [sic] and his leadership, I am removing Florida from consideration for any new oil and gas platforms.”

Following Zinke’s removal of Florida from the plan, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) called on the Interior chief to “immediately” remove California from the policy.

Other governors of coastal states, including Virginia, have made similar requests to be removed from the plan, but Zinke has not ruled out any other states.