Sen. Nelson: Prospect of Oil Drilling off Atlantic Coast Huge Threat to Florida

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Last year, the Obama administration abandoned a similar plan in the Atlantic Coast because of the opposition. It also backed off its plan in Florida, which has more beaches than any other state,” said Nelson.

According to him, “Florida is blessed with beautiful beaches that attract people. He pointed out that the state has a “significant tourism-driven economy. We’ll we learned what happened when just a drip of oil on beach. Remember the Deep Water Horizon Oil Explosion off of Louisiana? For one solid year— a tourist year—the tourist did not come to the west coast of Florida. Because they had seen those picture of what had happened to Pensacola beach.

Moreover, Sen. Nelson said oil drilling in the Atlantic Coast means “threatening the lifeblood of Florida’s economy.”

Furthermore, He said, “It is a threat not just to the environment but to its multi-billion tourism-driven economy. The stakes are exceptionally high. We simply can’t risk it.”

Pres. Trump’s America First Offshore Energy Strategy

In April, President Donald Trump said the United States has abundant offshore oil and natural gas resources. However, the federal government kept 94% of its offshore areas closed for exploration and production. According to him, such policy “deprives our country of potentially thousands and thousands of jobs and billions in wealth.”