So now after a cozy little meeting with Florida Gov. Rick Scott, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced that the home state of Trump's Mar-a-Lago would be exempted from the administration's offshore drilling decision, which puts the beaches and environments of many other coastal states at risk.
Wonder why he agreed to do that? Could it be to help Scott, a Republican, in his U.S. Senate campaign? Could it be that Trump doesn't want Florida's beaches ruined by a nasty, filthy oil spill because that certainly would hurt tourism, and, of course, he does business right there in Palm Beach with his fancy golf resort?
Nah...wouldn't want to think such a thing of our wonderful, upstanding president.
Of course now the governors of other states, including South Carolina, New York and California, also want exemptions. Why not? Are Florida's beaches any more pristine or valuable than those in other coastal states? Certainly not! We here in Myrtle Beach, SC are fighting this thing tooth and nail.
Here's what the White House had to say today about the Florida decision, as reported by The New York Times:
Hogan Gidley, the White House deputy press secretary, said it was in the country’s best interest “to unleash our energy potential to its fullest.”
“The Secretary is currently in the process of speaking to stakeholders, like Governor Scott yesterday, to determine the most responsible and environmentally sound path forward,” Mr. Gidle said, referring to Mr. Zinke. “All states have different concerns and needs, which is why this is an ongoing process with a built-in 60 day comment period.”
Yesterday, after the White House meeting where Trump actually acted somewhat "presidential" in negotiating with Congressional leaders regarding immigration, observers said the "optics" of that made-for-TV drama were good.
Well, I don't think the "optics" of how the administration is handling this oil drilling fiasco are so great. Does it really look good for the White House to be favoring a Republican state where Trump does business over say Democratic states like New York and California?
Nope. It's a wrongheaded decision to launch this massive drill...drill...drill at any cost plan and put our coastal environment in danger. Like I wrote the other day, it all comes down to greed.
And that needs to change.