EPA Administrator defends Trump's offshore drilling ban extension: ‘We have plenty of access to oil’
Andrew Wheeler tells FBN emissions have decreased by 7% during Trump administration
President Trump's extension of a moratorium on offshore drilling to include Florida, Georgia and South Carolina should have no impact on the dominance of the American energy sector, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler told Fox Business Network's "Cavuto: Coast to Coast" Wednesday.
“Even without the drilling there, we are energy dominant today,” Wheeler told host Neil Cavuto. “Under President Trump's leadership and under our deregulation, we are producing more oil and gas than ever before, but we're doing it an environmentally conscious manner.”
BIDEN-BACKED FRACKING POLICY COULD DERAIL AMERICA'S ECONOMIC RECOVERY
President Donald Trump holds a signed memorandum to expand the offshore drilling moratorium to Florida's Atlantic coast, Georgia and South Carolina after speaking at the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse and Museum Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020, in Jupiter, Fla. (AP
During the Trump administration, Wheeler said, air emissions have decreased by 7%.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS
The EPA chief also emphasized that the people of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina had called for drilling to be banned, as had their state and local officials. So, he claimed, the president’s decision was not ultimately made by the oil surplus.
“His decision was based on the request from the people who live in those states and ... we're energy dominant, we're energy independent, we're exporting oil,” he said. “So we have plenty of access to oil and natural gas ... And I think it's important for the environment and it's important for the people who live in those states.”