Oceana Welcomes Bill to Protect Parts of Florida’s Coast from Offshore Drilling - Oceana USA

Oceana Welcomes Bill to Protect Parts of Florida’s Coast from Offshore Drilling

Press Release Date: October 2, 2026

Location: Washington, D.C.

Contact:

Cory Gunkel | email: cgunkel@oceana.org | tel: Cory Gunkel

United States Senators Rick Scott (R-Florida) and Ashley Moody (R-Florida) introduced legislation today that would protect parts of the Gulf of Mexico off Florida from offshore oil and gas drilling.

The Protecting Florida’s Offshore Military Readiness Act would prevent any interference that could impede the federal government’s ability to maintain military readiness through training and other activities within the Eglin Gulf Test and Training Range (EGTTR) in the Gulf of Mexico, including offshore drilling.

“Healthy oceans help provide the foundation of America’s security and prosperity,” said Oceana Campaign Director Joseph Gordon. “Expanded offshore drilling is simply incompatible with the many national interests that rely on clean, thriving coastlines and wildlife.Floridians across the state – from business owners to residents to lawmakers across the political spectrum – all agree that the state should be safeguarded from oil drilling and spilling.”

This legislation comes as the Trump administration proposed expanded offshore drilling across the Gulf of Mexico, including in the eastern Gulf off of Florida.  U.S. military officials and lawmakers have voiced concern over oil drilling moving forward in the Eglin Gulf Test and Training Range, which is critical for military training and national security. This area is the largest testing and training range in the continental United States. Eglin Air Force Base supports 20,000 personnel and provides roughly $9 billion in economic impacts to Florida.

“Oceana thanks Senators Scott and Moody for this important legislation that will protect oceans from expanded offshore oil and gas drilling,” said Gordon. “Congress must pass this bill and continue working to protect Florida’s coastline, and all our coastlines, from the Trump administration’s misguided offshore drilling proposal.”

President Trump enacted a 10-year moratorium on Florida’s entire coastline from new offshore drilling during his first term in 2020. But the agency has proposed a draft five-year plan that would sell offshore drilling leases off the western coast of the state, as well as off California, Alaska, and throughout the central and western Gulf of Mexico. To learn more about Oceana’s campaign to prevent expanded offshore drilling in the U.S., visit here.