New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Friday threatened to sue the Trump administration if it does not remove the state from the Interior Department’s offshore oil and natural gas drilling plan.
Friday night is the deadline for the public to comment on Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s proposal to massively expand drilling in federal waters. Almost 600,000 comments had been submitted as of early Friday afternoon.
“The Trump administration’s plan to turn over New York’s coast to Big Oil threatens our environment and our economy, and I stand ready to use the full power of my office to fight back if the administration won’t listen to New Yorkers’ opposition,” the Democrat said. “The Trump administration must follow the law and eliminate New York’s coastal waters from its senseless and dangerous drilling plan. If the administration refuses, I will act to ensure our state’s economy, environment, and natural resources are protected.”
Under the Interior Department’s proposed plan, areas offshore of New York would be opened to leasing for oil and gas development for the first time in decades.
Schneiderman argues that Interior would violate the law if it moved forward with the plan against New York’s wishes, and without solid reasoning, because such an action is “arbitrary and capricious.”
Drilling would threaten New York’s ocean economy, which employs nearly 350,000 people and contributes $24.9 billion in gross domestic product each year, he said.
“The risks of oil spills and other harms from offshore oil and gas drilling, and related development, pose an unacceptable threat to these New York coast and ocean resources, and the jobs and economy that depend upon them,” Schneiderman’s office said in official comments to Interior opposing the leasing plan.
Schneiderman’s office also said Interior must follow federal law to consider how offshore leasing would “interfere” with the U.S.’ ability to combat climate change. New York has aggressive goals to transition to renewable power sources to slow global warming. Many climate scientists blame greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels for driving man-made climate change.
Under the Interior Department’s draft proposal, spanning 2019 to 2024, more than 90 percent of the total acres on the Outer Continental Shelf would be made available for leasing. It proposes 47 potential offshore lease sales, the most ever over a five-year period, including 19 sales off the Alaska coast, 12 in the Gulf of Mexico, nine in the Atlantic Ocean and seven in the Pacific.
Coastal governors and lawmakers, including many Republicans, have lobbied Zinke to exempt their states’ shores from drilling.
Zinke has emphasized his plan is subject to change, and stressed he would value the comments of state and local officials before issuing a final proposal.
