Members of Florida's congressional delegation sent a letter to President Trump on Friday in opposition to plans to open new areas of the Gulf to oil and gas drilling.
The bipartisan effort highlights a widespread concern in the state about the recently announced plans from the Department of the Interior. The letter says it would violate Trump's previous moratorium banning oil drilling off Florida's coasts. They said part of the area proposed for an easing of the ban is critical for military training in what is called the Gulf Test Range.
In November, a bill was filed in Congress by Florida's two U.S. senators that would continue a ban on oil and gas drilling off the coasts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.
The letter reads in part:
"The recent announcement from the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on their proposed five-year offshore leasing plan, announced November 20, 2025, includes a “new” planning area called the South-Central Gulf of America. If this plan were to move forward, the area would clearly fall within the area protected under your moratorium in a clear violation of your 2020 Executive Order. This area also falls within the Gulf Test Range, a critical military training area used by several military forces along Florida’s Panhandle for advanced military testing, training, and evaluation of air and weapons systems.
"The Gulf Test Range, remains an integral part of Department of War training to ensure mission readiness and is supported by multiple military bases in Florida’s Panhandle. Collectively, these bases employ tens of thousands of military and civilian personnel and are of critical importance to national security. Eglin Air Force Base alone supports 20,000 personnel, provides the country with $11 billion in economic impact every year, and currently boasts 123,000 square miles of water range, which would all have to be reduced in an instance of an encroachment of the Gulf Test Range. The Gulf Test Range is the largest multi-domain military training and testing complex in the country, and its unique geographic characteristics enable critical preparation for real-world contingencies. Protecting this range from encroachment, including oil exploration, is essential. Over 50,000 jobs in the Panhandle depend directly on operations at these military facilities connected to the Gulf Test Range. "
