AG Bob Ferguson Might Sue Zinke Over Offshore Drilling

SEATTLE, WA - Attorney General Bob Ferguson said Monday he will sue interior secretary Ryan Zinke if the federal government opens Washington's Pacific Coast to oil and natural gas drilling. On Jan. 4, the Trump administration announced it would lift an Obama-era ban on offshore drilling, opening up the Pacific Coast for drilling for the first time since 1984.

On Jan. 9, Zinke announced that Florida would get an exemption from the proposal. Florida Gov. Rick Scott complained drilling would hurt tourism. Ferguson wants Washington to get an exemption based on similar grounds.

"I ask that Washington receive the same exemption as Florida, and that no drilling or exploration be considered or take place off our coast," Ferguson wrote in a letter to Zinke.

In a letter to Zinke, Ferguson says Washington's coast generates about $480 million in tourism dollars annually, plus another $117 million in revenue from fishing.

A handful of other states - California, New York, and New Jersey - have asked for exemptions. Zinke's proposal to open up the coastal areas to drilling is in the public comment phase, which lasts until early March.

The Department of the Interior would offer one drilling lease for the entire Washington-Oregon coastline, according to the federal government. Six leases would be available along California's coast. You can comment on the plan here.

Caption: In this March 29, 2013, file photo, workers tend to a well head during a hydraulic fracturing operation outside Rifle, in western Colorado. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced plans Thursday, July 6, 2017, to encourage oil and gas development on federal lands with faster and simpler permitting and more frequent sales of government drilling rights.

Photo by Brennan Linsley/Associated Press