WASHINGTON _ The Trump administration on Friday approved permits for seismic testing on the Atlantic Coast, a prelude to offshore oil drilling and move that is sure to antagonize Republican governors and lawmakers in the Southeast, whose support the president will need in a 2020 re-election bid.
The National Marine Fisheries Service, an arm of the U.S. Commerce Department, approved permits for five companies to conduct seismic testing between northern Delaware and central Florida. That testing is expected to provide oil companies with valuable data on which parts of the coastal shelf contain oil deposits that could be extracted through offshore drilling platforms.
Environmental groups oppose the testing because of its potential harm to marine mammals, and coastal communities are livid that the White House would risk impacts to tourism.
