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Delaware lawmakers join other coastal state legislators to oppose offshore drilling plan

Delaware Public Media

Some Delaware lawmakers are joining legislators in other coastal states to oppose the Trump administration’s plan to allow offshore drilling around the entire U.S. coastline.

Newark State Rep. Paul Baumbach and six other Democratic legislators signed a letter with more than 200 lawmakers in states like Oregon, Maryland and Hawaii to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

Baumbach said drilling off the coast of Delaware could harm the state’s environment and its economy.

“The repercussions of this short-sighted reversal in policy by the administration is really an attack on Delaware and I think we need to stand up against that,” he said.

Baumbach adds this is also a states’ rights issue. He argues Attorney General Matt Denn could choose to sue the administration if it continued its plan to allow offshore drilling.

Delaware is already suing the Trump administration over its decision to repeal net neutrality and its decision to end a program protecting undocumented young adults who came to the U.S. as children.

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