Story highlights Critics call his decision to exempt Florida favoritism to benefit GOP Gov. Rick Scott.

Officials from other states also voiced opposition to drilling off their shores

Washington (CNN) Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke defended his surprise decision to exempt Florida waters from the Trump administration's push for new offshore drilling, saying in an exclusive interview with CNN that the state's coastline is unique.

"The coastal currents are different, the layout of where the geology is," Zinke said Sunday.

Critics have called his decision to exempt Florida's waters from the Trump administration's plan for new US offshore oil drilling political favoritism to benefit Republican Gov. Rick Scott. It came just days after the proposal for new drilling off most of the US coastline was announced.

"In the case of Florida, the governor asked first for an immediate meeting and every member on both sides of the aisle contacted my office, wrote letters on it. So Florida is unique. As well as every other state has theirs," Zinke said.

"Not every state has all the members against it and the geology is different, the currents are different and so looking at it, we're going to take the process, go through it, meet with every governor personally," he added.

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