The Pentagon said Thursday that offshore drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico would pose problems for military exercises it conducts there.
That part of the Gulf is an “irreplaceable national asset” used by the Department of Defense “to develop and maintain the readiness of our combat forces, and is critical to achieving the objectives contained in the National Defense Strategy,” said Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Michael Griffin in a report sent to Congress.
If oil and natural gas development were to extend east of the military training zone, without sufficient restrictions on drilling, “military flexibility in the region would be lost and test and training activities would be severely affected,” it stated.
The Interior Department is moving forward with developing a new five-year offshore drilling plant at the direction of President Trump. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke had proposed to open all areas of the Gulf to drilling, as well as the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. He has faced significant pushback, especially in Florida where both Democrats and Republicans oppose the plan.
Zinke has said he is reconsidering the plan, conceding that not all areas off the U.S. coasts would be conducive to drilling.
