CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WVEC) -- Leaders in Hampton Roads are meeting to consider taking a region-wide stance against offshore drilling.
City and county leaders from the 17 jurisdictions that comprise the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission are expected to request that the waters off our coast be exempt from offshore drilling.
In a meeting scheduled for 12:30, the HRPDC will ask that the waters off our coast be excluded from President Trump's plan to expand the offshore oil drilling program.
Several local and state leaders have already come out against offshore drilling. Among them is U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, who thinks the program could devastate the local military.
"If Florida is off limits and there's not going to be any further drilling activity off the Atlantic coast, and we were to have five years from now or 10 years from now, it could enable Florida to poach military assets from Hampton Roads in a way that would be very bad for the economy here," Kaine explained.
It's not just the military. Some Local business leaders are also against the plan. They're concerned that offshore drilling could have a negative impact on the tourism industry and devastate the local environment.