What to Know
- Former VP Al Gore and NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo are denouncing the Trump administration's proposal to open up new areas to offshore drilling
- The two Democrats spoke Friday morning in New York City at an event focused on the proposal
- Cuomo cited concerns about the environmental impacts from drilling off the coast and said the proposal is a "really, really dumb idea."
Former Vice President Al Gore and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo are denouncing the Trump administration's proposal to open up new areas to offshore drilling.
The two Democrats spoke Friday morning in New York City at an event focused on the proposal.
Gore said it makes no sense to drill for more oil and gas at a time when energy from renewable sources is taking off and creating new jobs. He added that expanded drilling would set back efforts to combat climate change.
In January 2018, the federal government unveiled the Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas program — proposing to make over 90 percent of the total offshore acreage in the United States available to oil and gas drilling.
Cuomo cited concerns about the environmental impacts from drilling off the coast and said the proposal is a "really, really dumb idea."
"Instead of protecting our waters from another oil spill, like the one that devastated the Gulf, this new federal plan only increases the chances of another disaster taking place," Cuomo said, adding that the federal plan "is a total disregard for science, reality, and history, and their actions defy everything we know."
Local
He said New York state will seek to be exempted from any federal plan to expand drilling.
If the exclusion is nor granted, as the number three ocean economy in the nation, New York stands to lose almost 320,000 jobs and billions of dollars generated through tourism and fishing industries, according to the state.
Cuomo also announced the single largest commitment to renewable energy by a state — $1.4 billion — which will advance 26 large-scale renewable energy projects across New York.
