Measure signed to expand offshore drilling

President Trump signed an executive order Friday that aims to expand offshore drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, as well as assess whether energy exploration can take place in marine sanctuaries in the Pacific and Atlantic.

The "America-First Offshore Energy Strategy" will make millions of acres of federal waters eligible for oil and gas leasing, just four months after former president Barack Obama withdrew these areas from possible development. In late December, Obama used a little-known provision in the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to bar energy exploration in large portions of the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, and a string of canyons in the Atlantic stretching from Massachusetts to Virginia.

Still, even Trump administration officials said it would take years to rewrite federal leasing plans and open up these areas to drilling. And global energy prices may deter investors from moving ahead with additional drilling in the Arctic Ocean in the near term, despite the effort to make more areas eligible for development.

Speaking to reporters Thursday night, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said it would likely take about two years to do a thorough review of what new areas could be put up for auction.

"This order will cement our nation's place as a global energy leaders," Zinke said, while stressing that the administration would "not remove the stringent environmental safeguards currently in place."

Environmental groups decried the policy shift as reckless and possibly illegal.