President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday seeking to expand drilling for oil and gas off of the nation's coasts, including Florida, where a ban on drilling within 125 miles of the state's west coast is set to expire in 2022.
Two U.S. Representatives from Florida - Republican Vern Buchanan and Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz - are seeking to extend the ban until at least 2027.
Naples charter fishing captain Gene Luciano doesn't believe that oil platforms placed off the coast would be seen from shore, and could even make good fishing spots. "It's going to be a great fishing haven, just like the artificial reefs that we're building now off of Collier County," Luciano said.
He'd like to see the U.S. become less dependent on foreign oil, and believes the oil industry learned some hard lessons from the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010. "I've been here 47 years, and that's the only major catastrophe in oil that I've ever heard of," Luciano said. "I imagine that whoever's going to do it would do it correctly, and safely."
Gov. Scott's office contacted Fox 4 after the original story aired, saying that the Governor misheard the question Karl asked him on camera. His office issued the following statement:
Governor Scott has not seen the President’s proposal.
However, Governor Scott is committed to protecting Florida’s world-class beaches. His proposed budget includes $50 million for statewide beach and dune restoration, beach re-nourishment and other coastal restoration projects. Additionally, the Governor has proposed $77 million for beach restoration projects following damage caused by Hurricane Matthew.
