February 8, 2018 — Gov. Jay Inslee has formally asked the Trump Administration to remove the state from federal plans “to open waters off our coast to oil and gas drilling.”
And state Attorney General Bob Ferguson has said the state will sue the federal government if Department of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke continues to support the proposal while removing Florida from waters that would be open for the same National Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2019-2024.
Inslee made his request in writing on Monday after an Olympia news conference with statements from a group that included Ocean Shores Mayor Crystal Dingler, Quinault Indian Nation representative Gina James, and Larry Thevik, president of the Washington Dungeness Crab Fishermen’s Association and an Ocean Shores resident.
In a letter to Zinke, Insleee said: “I have stated unequivocally that opening the Pacific Coast to new oil and gas drilling for the first time in decades poses grave danger to our state’s unique recreation, tourism, shipping, military and fishing industries, threatening thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in revenue each year.”
Read the full story at North Coast News