Inslee, tribal groups object to offshore drilling plans

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Gov. Jay Inslee will join tribal groups and coastal businesses to object to plans for oil drilling offshore of Washington state.

The action Monday afternoon by Inslee and the tribes comes the same day that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management holds a public meeting about the offshore drilling proposal in Tacoma.

Inslee has asked U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to remove Washington, along with the entire Pacific coastline, from a list of proposed sites for potential offshore oil and gas drilling.

Zinke announced plans last month to greatly expand offshore oil drilling from the Atlantic to the Arctic and Pacific oceans, including multiple areas where drilling is now blocked. The plan was immediately met with bipartisan opposition on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.