Buchanan Blasts BOEM Offshore Drilling Plan, Demands Florida’s Coasts Remain Off-Limits

“For Floridians, this is simple: no drilling off our beaches.” WASHINGTON — Today, Congressman Vern Buchanan , co-chair of the Florida delegation, issued the following statement in response to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) 11th National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Draft Proposed Program , which proposes expanded offshore drilling in the Gulf of America: “For Floridians, this is simple: no drilling off our beaches. Florida’s beaches generate more than $127.7 billion a year in tourism spending and support over 2.1 million tourism-related jobs. President Trump made the right call in 2020 when he signed a moratorium protecting Florida’s coasts from new offshore drilling, stating that drilling off our coast was ‘not going to happen’ because ‘the people of Florida just don’t want it.’ It would be a serious mistake to walk back that protection now. As we learned from the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, the consequences of an offshore oil spill are devastating for our environment, economy and coastal communities. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s new draft proposal moves us in the wrong direction. While I strongly support unleashing American energy dominance and reducing our dependence on foreign adversaries, we should not do so at Floridians’ expense. There is no world in which oil rigs creeping closer to our shores is acceptable for Florida. I will oppose any plan that opens the door to drilling in the Gulf of America near Florida’s beaches. As long as I’m in Congress, I will fight to keep drilling rigs away from our beaches and make those protections permanent.” ###