Trump's new executive order now urges the U.S. Department of Interior to reassess and replace the most recent five-year oil and gas development plan the Obama administration put in place for the outer continental shelf, which covers federal waters off all U.S. coasts.
Gulf Economic Survival Team Executive Director Lori LeBlanc called the move a "positive first step" for the oil and gas industry toward job creation and boosting the national economy.
According to Trump, the new executive order begins the process of opening many offshore areas to "job-creating energy exploration" and rescinds the Obama administration's permanent protection of the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans.
"By his actions today, President Trump has sent a clear message that he prioritizes the oil and gas industry over the needs of working Americans in our coastal communities who depend on healthy fishing and tourism economies for their livelihoods", Environmental Defense Fund Vice President Elizabeth Thompson said in a statement.
Ahead of his 100th day in power on Saturday, the order is part of Trump's efforts to fulfill his promise to "unleash American energy" to create jobs and end the country's dependence on foreign oil.
Environmental activists, meanwhile, railed against the expected signing, which comes seven years after the devastating 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
"For the past 30 years, we've had bipartisan support for a moratorium for further offshore oil drilling in federal waters off the coast of California", Jackson said.
White House advisers postpone Paris climate deal meeting
In March, Trump signed an executive order created to prioritize American jobs over addressing climate change. Trump, who once remarked that climate change was a Chinese hoax, has since backed off those claims.
We are opening it up. It also calls for a sweeping review of national marine sanctuaries. Friday's order will direct the Interior Department to review Obama's blocking of drilling sites in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas.
Erik Milito, the upstream director at the American Petroleum Institute said that allowing access to the oil reserves off U.S. coasts is a key component of ensuring a successful long-term American energy policy.
The US President said that increased energy production of federal lands and waters boosts the security and decreases dependence on imported energy.
The entire Alaska delegation was at the White House for the signing, and Trump gave Sen.
"This order will cement our nation's position as a global energy leader and foster energy security for the benefit of the American people without removing any of the stringent environmental safeguards that are now in place", Zinke said in a call with reporters on Thursday. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said late Thursday. The Obama administration instated this rule using the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which the administration thought would be more hard for Trump's administration to undo than if Obama had simply signed an executive order prohibiting the drilling.
Friday's action follows an executive order issued Wednesday calling on Zinke to review 20 years of national monument designations.
Comments