The Destin City Council voted Monday to send a letter opposing oil drilling and energy exploration in the eastern Gulf, joining Okaloosa County and members of Florida’s congressional delegation in calling for protections for a critical military training area.
- The council unanimously approved the measure, which supports protecting the Eastern Gulf Test and Training Range from oil drilling encroachment.
The Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners passed a similar letter at its Nov. 18 meeting after the Okaloosa County Economic Development Council brought the issue to commissioners’ attention.
On Nov. 20, Congressman Jimmy Patronis led a group of Florida lawmakers in sending a letter to President Trump urging him to withdraw blocks within the training range from the upcoming Big Beautiful Gulf Lease Sale scheduled for Dec. 10. The letter was co-signed by Reps. Neal Dunn, Mike Haridopolos, Daniel Webster, Vern Buchanan, Laurel Lee, Scott Franklin and Byron Donalds.
- “While we wholeheartedly support your push for American energy independence and expanded domestic oil and gas production, the EGTTR is critical to advanced weapons development, flight testing, and joint exercises essential to maintaining America’s military superiority,” the congressional letter states.
The lawmakers noted the training range supports operations at Eglin Air Force Base, Hurlburt Field, Tyndall Air Force Base and Naval Air Station Pensacola. During annual operations, the military drops approximately 226 bombs weighing 25,500 pounds, fires 535 missiles weighing approximately 30,000 pounds and shoots more than 67,100 rounds in the range, according to the letter.
The congressional delegation warned that oil exploration could reduce the military’s economic impact in Northwest Florida, which contributes $21.8 billion to gross domestic product and generates nearly 200,000 jobs.
At the Destin meeting, Councilman Dewey Destin said he supported the letter’s emphasis on military activities but wanted additional language included.
- “It’s also very important to me that we make it clear that the things that make Destin Destin and the Gulf Coast, the water and the beaches, be protected, and that they are vital and are in fact a national treasure,” Destin said.
City Attorney Kim Kopp agreed to incorporate that language into the letter, which will be signed by the mayor on behalf of the city.
The push for protections comes as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management moves forward with its five-year plan for offshore drilling following President Trump’s “Unleashing American Energy” executive order issued in January, according to the One Okaloosa EDC. While Trump extended protections for the training range through June 2032 using authority under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act in 2020, the EDC said the executive order opens the eastern Gulf to interpretation for drilling.
- BOEM’s five-year plan, released Nov. 20, includes a portion of the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The agency had proposed a 100-mile buffer around Florida’s coast, but according to the EDC, that buffer would fall in the middle of the training range.
Congressional efforts to provide permanent protections are underway. The House passed the Florida Coastal Protection Act in April, and Sens. Ashley Moody and Rick Scott co-sponsored the American Shores Protection Act in October, which would prohibit oil and gas exploration off the coasts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.
