Atlantic oil drilling: Can NJ get an exception like Florida did?

For all their disagreements, neither outgoing Gov. Chris Christie nor Gov.-elect Phil Murphy wants the ocean near New Jersey made available for oil and gas drilling, but that's just what will happen unless President Donald Trump's administration can be convinced otherwise.

There may still be time to make that case: Florida was carved out of the 2019-2024 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program on Tuesday under pressure from the Sunshine State's governor.

"If exceptions are being made for other states, the governor will certainly pursue the same type of exception for New Jersey," said Christie spokesman Brian Murray. "He also will consult with the attorney general on additional steps to continue his policy of protecting New Jersey's coastline."

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In another dramatic policy swing from the administration of former President Barack Obama, President Donald Trump's U.S. Department of the Interior announced a plan last week to allow more than 90 percent of U.S. ocean waters to be leased by energy companies for the purpose of potentially extracting oil and gas from beneath the seabed.

Right now, 94 percent of this area is off limits and there has been no such activity in the Atlantic since 1983, according to the Interior Department.

That's for good reason, environmentalists say, because oil and gas drilling exposes the ocean and our shores to the threat of a disaster, something akin to the Deepwater Horizon explosion in 2010. Eleven people died and 3.2 million barrels of oil stained 500 miles of coastline on the Gulf Coast as result of safety failures in that incident.

Murphy, along with local environmental leaders and U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone and U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, both Democrats, makes an argument against offshore drilling in the video above.

Florida, which went in the Trump column in the 2016 election, was scratched out of the draft plan after Republican Gov. Rick Scott made a plea to the very top of the Interior Department, Secretary Ryan Zinke.

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Zinke explained his thinking in a statement on Twitter, saying, in part, "President Trump has directed me to rebuild our offshore oil and gas program in a manner that supports our national energy policy and also takes into consideration the local and state voice.

"I support the governor's position that Florida is unique and its coasts are heavily reliant on tourism as an economic driver," he continued.

Zinke has not spoken with any other governor regarding the draft plan, according to Heather Swift, press secretary for the Interior Department.

"The governor is welcome to submit a meeting request," she told the Asbury Park Press on Wednesday morning when asked if Zinke had heard from New Jersey.

Could New Jersey make the same appeal, highlighting tourism as the Jersey Shore's cash cow? Maybe.

The tourism sector in New Jersey generated $41.9 billion in 2016; half of that came from Shore counties, according to the state's annual tourism report.

Tourism makes up 6.5 percent of all goods and services produced in New Jersey, versus 9.5 percent in Florida, according to twin studies in 2016.

Christie, a longtime friend of Trump, has opposed offshore drilling his entire time in office. His state's voters went with Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016.

His administration reaffirmed that stance last summer when the idea of opening the Atlantic to oil and gas exploration was first officially proposed by the interior department.

Christie hands off his gubernatorial powers to Murphy on Jan. 16. Murphy's team didn't immediately respond to a request for comment, although Murphy has made it clear he opposes drilling off New Jersey's shores.

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Russ Zimmer: 732-557-5748, razimmer@app.com, @russzimmer