A group of Republicans is seeking to reinstate protections for Florida’s Gulf Test Range in the Gulf of Mexico after they were removed as part of the Democrat-passed $749 billion Inflation Reduction Act.
Congress passed the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act in 2006 that prohibited oil and gas development and exploration east of the Military Mission Line in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, which is one of the U.S. military’s most important testing and training areas.
In 2020 under the Trump administration, these protections were extended, withdrawing submerged lands of the test range from being considered for energy development or leasing. This ensured that the range would “continue to serve U.S. national security needs,” an Oct. 17 letter by the Republican members stated (pdf)….