West Coast governors tell Trump: No oil, gas leases off our coast

Oil and gas leasing must never again be allowed in sensitive marine waters off the West Coast, the governors of three states told U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and the Trump administration, in a blunt letter Thursday.

"There should be no ambiguity about where the states of California, Oregon and Washington stand on the issue of new oil and gas leasing off our West Coast -- we oppose it," wrote Govs. Jerry Brown, Kate Brown and Jay Inslee.

All are Democrats; all three states voted heavily against President Trump last November. All three states are committed to action on climate change, whatever Trump does or tries to do to federal environmental laws.

The governors' letter speaks to this defiance -- proudly.

"The people of our states understand that the looming catastrophe of unabated climate change requires our nation to move away from unfettered fossil fuel consumption and towards a more prosperous, sustainable and secure clean energy economy," wrote Brown, Brown and Inslee.


Much more (including photos): http://www.seattlepi.com/local/politics/article/West-Coast-governors-message-to-Trump-No-oil-11882719.php


Crude oil from the tanker Exxon Valdez, top, swirls on the surface of Alaska's Prince William Sound near Naked Island. The 987-foot tanker, carrying 53 million gallons of crude, struck Bligh Reef at 12:04 a.m. on March 24, 1989, and within hours unleashed an estimated 10.8 million gallons of thick, toxic crude oil into the water. Storms and currents then smeared it over 1,300 miles of shoreline. Twenty eight years later, the region, its people and its wildfire are still recovering. Photo: John Gaps III, ASSOCIATED PRESS