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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will sign an executive order Friday — one day before a massive demonstration for climate action — clearly aimed at opening up now-protected areas of the Arctic and Atlantic to oil and gas development.
In a call with reporters Thursday, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said the order, called the “America-First Offshore Energy Strategy,” will add to the “success” of the president’s first 100 days in office and puts America on track toward energy independence.
The action instructs the Interior Department to review the current five-year oil and gas leasing program, finalized by the Obama administration in November, as well as the regulations and permitting process for offshore energy development. Furthermore, it instructs Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to review all marine sanctuaries and monuments designated or expanded within the last 10 years, as well as to refrain from designating or expanding any existing marine protected areas, Zinke said. The latter portion of the order is similar to a separate order Trump signed earlier this week requiring a review of national monument designations going back 21 years.
Friday’s offshore order, Zinke said, “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 currently in place.”
In November, citing environmental concerns, President Barack Obama’s Interior Department instituted a temporary ban on drilling in the Arctic’s Beaufort and Chukchi seas between 2017 and 2022, thereby limiting offshore drilling to the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s Cook Inlet. One month later, Obama used his executive authority to extend permanent protections for large swaths of the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, relying on a provision of the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. The permanent withdrawal encompasses the entire U.S. portion of the Chukchi Sea and significant portions of the Beaufort Sea. It also covers 31 canyons in the Atlantic, stretching from New England to the Chesapeake Bay.
Although not entirely clear, it appears the order takes aim at the permanent ban. Back in December, an Obama administration official said “no president has ever acted to reverse an indefinite withdrawal” and that the permanent ban would “stand the test of time.”
As he did with Wednesday’s monument order, Zinke stressed that Friday’s order simply calls for a review and that the current five-year plan remains in place. He said he understands that people will have concerns about how increased development will impact the environment, but that both he and Trump are committed to protecting the environment.
“I’ve spent a lot of time in the Middle East and it is better to produce energy here under reasonable regulations than have it be produced overseas with no regulations,” he said. “Environmentally, I can tell you we have the highest standards in the world.”
Environmentalists have their doubts about the Trump administration’s environmental stewardship — and rightly so. Since taking office, Trump has acted quickly to derail America’s actions to combat climate change, a crisis he has dismissed as “bullshit” and a “hoax,” and proposed sweeping cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency and other scientific agencies.
Jacqueline Savitz, a senior vice president for the nonprofit group Oceana, said that expanding “dirty and dangerous offshore drilling” would be “a huge, bad, stupid mistake.” She noted that the order comes nearly seven years to the day after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
“The president’s efforts to benefit energy producers won’t make America great again. It will simply enable corner-cutting and set us up for another havoc-wreaking environmental disaster,” she said. “We need smart, tough standards to ensure that energy companies are not operating out of control. In their absence, America’s future promises more oil spills and industrialized coastlines.”
Sierra Weaver, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, called the order a “slap in the face” to the millions of Atlantic coastal residents who reject offshore drilling there.
Environmental groups Earthjustice and the Natural Resources Defense Council immediately promised to take the Trump administration to court.
“Trump is again going all-in for his Big Oil backers, with an executive order that attempts to undo President Obama’s historic action,” Earthjustice President Trip Van Noppen said in a statement. “Trump’s short-sighted order reverses climate progress and imperils coastal communities, irreplaceable wildlife, and our shared future. It is also against the law. We will go to court to enforce the law and ensure President Obama’s protections remain in place.”
Asked by a reporter if the administration has been approached by any oil companies interested in drilling in the Arctic, Zinke said “no.”
The order appears to threaten newly established marine monuments, including Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument surrounding the the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. In August, Obama quadrupled the size of the monument, from 139,797 square miles to 582,578 square miles, making it the largest marine protected area on the planet.
Thousands of environmentalists are slated to descend on the nation’s capitol and city streets across the country on Saturday to participate in the People’s Climate March, a demonstration against Trump’s environmental policies.
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