Trump playing politics with drilling decision

Cynicism has always been a part of politics, but rarely are politicians so brazen and self-serving as President Donald Trump and his interior secretary, Ryan Zinke, have been. First they announced a new offshore drilling plan that would force unwilling coastal states to open up their waters to oil and gas exploration, prioritizing “energy dominance” over longstanding local concerns. Then just a few days later, they gave swing-state Florida a special exception from the unpopular drilling plan, crediting Republican Gov. Rick Scott, who may run for Senate this year, for securing the dispensation.

Critics, including longtime drilling opponent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, who is Scott’s likely opponent in November, immediately accused the Trump administration of orchestrating these announcements to boost the Republican in a key 2018 race. Also discomfiting is the question of how much Trump’s ownership of Florida beachfront property factored into the decision. The president appears to be treating public policy as a tool for partisan and personal gain.

If the Florida decision had been the result of a thoughtful process that ended in a report explaining how Florida’s coast is somehow more precious than every other stretch of coast, it would have at least appeared less capricious. Instead, the administration exposed one of the big drivers of its severe dysfunction; its attitude that the federal government is a fiefdom that Trump and his lieutenants rule according to their whim.