Trump opens Arctic Ocean to drilling, despite high risks

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.

The order, called the “America-First Offshore Energy Strategy”, would reverse drilling bans put in place by Barack Obama a year ago.

This morning the president stated the order allows for the creation of thousands of high paying American energy jobs.

“Now, the Trump administration is stepping in to take immediate action that will bring back production in parts of the Arctic and Atlantic that were taken off limits, and also conduct a more comprehensive review of our offshore policies”, she said.

Adding to his list of accomplishments on the eve of his 100th day as president, Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday undoing Barack Obama’s restrictions on drilling in federally held waters along the eastern seaboard and the Arctic.

“And generally I can tell ya’, all of us should get anxious about last minute actions from an administration”, Zinke said.

Zinke addressed these concerns head-on, promising to keep in place safety and environmental protects, which he said are among the strongest in the world, even as Trump has moved to reduce other Obama-era environmental regulations in other areas.

“President Trump and his administration are marching us down an unprecedented path – filled with conflict and risk”. They pointed out the order comes seven years after a large oil spill from a BP platform in the Gulf of Mexico, which had prompted them to urge a slowdown in offshore oil development.

Last November, then-President Obama signed a raft of measures created to protect as much of the environment – and the planet – as possible from pollution and fossil fuel extraction.

In preparation for Trump’s moves, a California state lawmaker, Sen.

And environmental law and policy experts questioned Trump’s authority to reverse Obama’s withdrawal of certain areas in the Arctic or Atlantic to drilling, a question likely to be decided in the courts.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday that aims to open up protected waters to offshore drilling, sparking outcry from environmental groups.

Legal experts say the law has never been used by a president to remove protections, just to create them.

In comments to reporters Thursday, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said the administration recognized that residents of some states, including California, did not want offshore oil drilling.

The order also directs Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to look at the possibility of scrapping multiple national marine sanctuaries and monuments expanded or designated in the last 10 years by Obama’s administration.

On Wednesday, Trump called for a review of wilderness areas that were declared national monuments over the past 20 years, an order with the goal of possibly opening up these areas to oil drilling and mining.