U.S. Congressman Brian Mast (FL-18) today voted in favor of two bills – the Protecting and Securing Florida’s Coastline Act and the Coastal and Marine Economies Protection Act – to permanently ban oil and gas drilling off Florida’s coastlines. Both pieces of legislation passed the U.S. House of Representatives with bipartisan support.
“Offshore drilling is unacceptable for our communities and is simply not worth the risk of endangering our economy, environment or marine life,” Rep. Mast said. “I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: oil drilling near our Florida coastlines will not be tolerated. That’s what these bills are all about.”
The first bill, the Protecting and Securing Florida’s Coastline Act, would make permanent a ban on offshore oil and gas leasing originally established by the 2006 Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act that is scheduled to end on June 30, 2022. Rep. Mast is a co-sponsor of this bill authored by Congressman Francis Rooney (FL-19).
The second bill, the Coastal and Marine Economies Protection Act, would permanently prohibit lease sales for oil and gas development in the Atlantic and Pacific regions of the outer continental shelf (OCS).
