Dear Secretary Zinke:

New York State strongly opposes the Department of the Interior's Draft Proposed Plan to open the
Atlantic Coast to nine offshore drilling lease sales pursuant to the National Outer Continental Shelf Oil
and Gas Leasing Program, including two in our North Atlantic region. Your decision to remove Florida
from consideration of any new oil and gas platforms before your Department has even concluded its
public fact-finding process appears arbitrary. Nevertheless, to the extent that states are exempted from
consideration, New York should also be exempted.

Offshore drilling poses an unacceptable threat to New York's ocean resources, to our economy and to
the future of our children. It introduces the unprecedented risk of extremely hazardous oil spills,
contributes to the acceleration of climate change, and conflicts with New York's ambitious agenda to
develop offshore wind energy. With this plan, the federal government is trampling on the interests of
New Yorkers and threatening the future wellbeing of our state.

The long-term health of New York's economy is inextricably linked to protecting our ocean resources.
Much like Florida, New York's ocean coast is unique and plays a vital role in our economy. Long Island
and the New York Harbor are home to 11. 4 million people, with 60 percent of our state's population
living along nearly 2,000 miles of tidal coastline. New York's "Ocean Economy" (construction, living
resources, minerals, ship building, tourism and recreation, and transportation) generates tens of billions
of dollars in economic activity and provides hundreds of thousands of jobs. New York Harbor is also
home to the largest container port on the East Coast. The proposal to lease the OCS for oil and gas
drilling threatens these jobs and the entire nation's economic wellbeing.

An oil spill offshore New York's Atlantic coast would cripple the State's ocean tourism economy and
devastate coastal ecosystems, and toxic chemical releases associated with day-to-day drilling operations
and pipeline leaks would negatively impact marine and other wildlife. The Atlantic Ocean off New York's
coast provides critical habitat for hundreds of species including deep sea corals, marine mammals, fish,
sea turtles, seabirds and important fisheries species like tilefish, squid crabs, flounder and tuna. Whales
are now commonly spotted off New York City, a sight unimaginable only a decade ago, and just this
week two of the world's 450 remaining North Atlantic Right whales were observed off Montauk.

Finally, the plan undermines New York's efforts to combat climate change by shifting from greenhouse
gas emitting fossil energy sources to renewable sources, such as offshore wind. Building upon my
administration's mandate that 50 percent of the State's electricity come from renewable energy by
2030, I have committed New York to achieving 2.4 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030 - enough
power for over 1.2 million homes. Rather than working against us to thwart New York's clean energy
goals and hinder one of our state's most promising emerging industries, I urge your Department to
continue focusing on our collaborative efforts to establish new areas for offshore wind energy
development.

Offshore drilling would devastate New York's economy and environment, cause irreparable harm to our
coastal ecosystems, and could interfere with our nationally significant coastal economy. New York must
be removed from consideration for any new oil and gas platforms through the OCS Oil and Gas Leasing
Program.

Sincerely,
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo