Source: Benjamin J. Hulac, ROLL CALL, 9/8/20


President Donald Trump on Tuesday backed a federal freeze on oil and gas drilling off the coasts of Florida, South Carolina and Georgia, marking an election year departure from his administration’s previous efforts to significantly expand offshore fossil fuel extraction in the region and nationally. The announcement in Jupiter, Fla., north of Palm Beach, appears to be an expansion of what already exists: a moratorium on oil and gas leasing, the precursor to drilling, in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and a smaller portion of the central Gulf through June 30, 2022.

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