PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Rhode Island Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo wants to withdraw the state from the Trump administration’s to lift the ban on offshore oil drilling, and she’s requested a call with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to discuss it.
Raimondo’s spokesman, David Ortiz, says the call had not been scheduled as of Thursday. He says Zinke’s office was receptive about the conversation “and said they would be in touch.”
Zinke announced the plan last week to open nearly all U.S. coastlines to offshore oil and gas drilling. But on Tuesday, after a brief meeting with Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott, he said that drilling in Florida waters would be “off the table.”
Democrats called that decision political and other states are seeking similar treatment.
Raimondo calls the drilling plan a “step backward.”
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