THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

But will there be any advantage for Republicans from the Tangerine Shitgibbon's offshore drilling plans? We can assume that Interior Secretary "Hinky" Zinke will benefit but what of others?

As coastal Republicans in Florida and the Carolinas lobby the Trump administration to exempt their states from new offshore oil drilling plans, their GOP counterparts in California have largely been silent, apparently torn between angering voters at home and upsetting their pro-drilling colleagues in Congress.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has already said he will exempt Florida from expanded offshore oil drilling, after that state’s Republican governor, Rick Scott, objected to the Jan. 4 announcement. U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford, a Republican from coastal South Carolina, has been seeking an exemption for his state, and Zinke quickly contacted him after Sanford criticized the decision on CNN.

In California, however, the 14 Republicans in the U.S. House have been cautious on the issue, in part because several face tough 2018 campaigns. Two of those, Ed Royce of Fullerton and Darrel Issa of San Diego County, have already stated they will not seek reelection. Some of Trump’s other policies, such as changes in the new tax law that hurt blue states such as California and New York, are already giving Democrats wedge issues they can use against opponents.

“If there is an endangered species in California, it is the Southern California oceanfront Republican,” said Bill Whalen, the chief speechwriter for former California Gov. Pete Wilson and now a fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution. The demographics are changing in Southern California, and opposition to Trump’s policies, and Trump himself, is hurting GOP prospects in some districts, he said.

So far, Issa is the only California House Republican member to criticize Trump’s drilling plan, which he did six days before announcing he was stepping down. A spokesman for Dana Rohrabacher, R-Costa Mesa, said the congressman was supportive of the proposal, but said he was not available to explain why.

Other GOP lawmakers, including Royce, Mimi Walters of Orange County and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, have not issued statements and their offices did not respond for comment.

Zinke announced his plan on Jan. 4 to offer 47 new offshore leases in federal waters off of Alaska, the west coast, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic coast. He said the leases would “strike the right balance to protect our coasts and people while still powering America and achieving American Energy Dominance.”

Lawmakers in Alaska, Louisiana and other oil-friendly states applauded the plan. But leaders in states dependent on coastal tourism, including California, Oregon and Washington, have harshly criticized it.

Every coastal state stands to be damaged by off shore drilling and given the way this administration has operated it is likely that the leases will be off the coasts of blue states. Florida may have Mar-A-Shithole but the Carolinas, for example, have many Trumpoons who love vacationing on their beaches.