Trump order could mean more drilling
President wants U. S. to develop additional energy domestically
President Trump signed an executive order Friday that could eventually open up Arctic waters and millions of coastal acres off U. S. shores to oil and gas drilling.
“Today we’re unleashing American energy and clearing the way for thousands and thousands of high- paying American energy jobs,” said Trump, flanked by Republican lawmakers from energy- producing states during a White House signing ceremony.
“Our country is blessed with incredible natural resources including abundant offshore oil and natural gas resources, but the federal government has kept 94% of these offshore areas closed for exploration and production,” he said. “This deprives our country of potentially thousands and thousands of jobs and billions in wealth.”
The directive, known as the America First Offshore Energy Strategy, directs Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to review the current five- year development plan on the Outer Continental Shelf for offshore oil and gas exploration as well as review the regulations and permitting process for development and seismic research.
The order also prevents Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross from designating any new marine monuments and sanctuaries or expanding existing ones. Ross also is directed to review all designations and expansions of marine monuments or sanctuaries designated under the Antiquities Act within the last 10 years.
The order represents one more step in the president’s aggressive attempts to dismantle Obama- era environmental protections.
Trump, who campaigned on a vow to increase energy independence and reduce Washington’s regulatory footprint, has already signed an order to begin undoing climate change emission standards for power plants, directed his administration to review a broad clean water rule and approved the Keystone XL Pipeline.
This week, he signed an executive order calling into question the future of more than two dozen national monuments proclaimed by the last three presidents to set aside millions of acres from development.
The offshore exploration order drew immediate fire from environmental activists.
“No matter how much money it spends or how many lobbyists it places inside the Trump administration, Big Oil can never nor will never drown out the voices of millions of Americans across the country who spoke out against dangerous offshore drilling,” Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said.
Zinke said the order simply directs a review and that no specific locations are being targeted for potential development.
But he also discussed the large cache of reserves available for extraction on the Outer Continental Shelf, the submerged land that exists in federal waters between three and 200 miles offshore from most states. State waters for Texas and the Gulf Coast of Florida extend nine miles.
Some members of Congress, especially from states who rely heavily on coastal tourism, are already pushing back on the order.
Florida lawmakers, who remember how the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill tarred Panhandle beaches and kept visitors away, may take issue with expanded drilling.
“This announcement by the president will be like a big present for the oil companies,” Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson said earlier this week. “I hope the president thinks twice before putting Florida’s economy at such a risk. I hope he refrains from issuing this executive order, but if he doesn’t, this senator and a bipartisan delegation from Florida will fight this order.”
On Friday, Rep. Mark Sanford, a Tea Party congressman from South Carolina, responded to Trump’s order by introducing a bill to suspend offshore drilling and all related activities in the waters off the East Coast for the next decade.
“One of every 10 jobs in South Carolina comes from tourism, and this means $ 13 billion in impact every year to our coastal counties alone,” he said. “Drilling would put this economic driver at risk.”
The Interior Department oversees 1.7 billion acres on the Outer Continental Shelf, which contain an estimated 90 billion barrels of undiscovered, recoverable oil and 327 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, recoverable natural gas. The Outer Continental Shelf accounts for about 18% of the domestically produced crude oil and 4% of domestic natural gas supply overall.
In 2008, the year before Obama took office, leasing revenues for offshore energy were about $ 18 billion, Zinke said. By 2016, they had dropped to about $ 2.8 billion, though he said some of that was due to falling gasoline prices.
This order, Zinke said, “puts us on track for American energy independence.”
Energy experts also say the relatively low price of oil could discourage the often expensive task of offshore exploration.
“The lifting of the ban does not necessarily make drilling in the Arctic a compelling proposition and it will probably be many years before we see any activity in the Arctic again,” said Jill McLeod, a partner at the international law firm Dorsey & Whitney.