XPost: sci.geo.petroleum, sci.energy, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   XPost: sac.politics, talk.politics.guns   
   From: yourdime@outlook.com   
      
   The Trump administration is proposing to auction offshore oil drilling   
   leases across new portions of the U.S. coast as soon as 2026, according   
   to internal Department of Interior draft documents viewed by CBS News.   
      
   New leases would include waters off New England, the Carolinas and   
   California.   
      
   Offshore oil leases are common along the Gulf Coast of Texas and   
   Louisiana, as well as parts of Alaska, but there are currently no active   
   oil leases on the Atlantic coast, and California has not had a new oil   
   lease since 1984.   
      
   This comes as the Department of Interior formally announced plans this   
   week to reopen 1.56 million aces in the Coastal Plain of the Arctic   
   National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas leasing, reversing a Biden   
   administration decision to limit oil drilling in the Arctic.   
      
   That decision drew a strong rebuke from Democrats, including Sen. Edward   
   J. Markey of Massachusetts, who accused the administration of rewarding   
   the fossil fuel industry for its support of the president. "This   
   decision is not about energy dominance—it's about donor dominance,"   
   Markey said in a statement. "The Trump administration must immediately   
   reverse its shortsighted decision. The Arctic Refuge is not for sale."   
      
   The Department of Interior is assessing new oil leases as part of the   
   National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, which   
   issues oil leases in five-year increments. The Biden administration set   
   the previous plan and had the fewest leases on record, with only three.   
      
   Documents reviewed by CBS News included assessments of whether state   
   governments favored offshore drilling, and indicated that the states   
   opposed it. The documents also included potential dates for leasing each   
   tract of seafloor.   
      
   If the plan is approved by the Interior secretary and moves forward,   
   California could see lease sales as soon as 2027 and the Beaufort Sea in   
   Alaska, which includes the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, could see   
   lease sales as early as 2026. Under the terms of the lease, a company   
   would then have five to 10 years, depending on the water depth in the   
   area, to explore and develop oil and gas production.   
      
   The Trump administration opened a public comment period in April for a   
   new five-year gas leasing policy. Lawmakers from both parties voiced   
   concerns about offshore drilling, including members of Congress and   
   state governors, and the process drew more than 34,000 comments.   
      
   Governors Josh Stein (D, North Carolina) and Henry McMaster (R, South   
   Carolina), issued a joint statement opposing the idea, saying there has   
   been broad bipartisan consensus against offshore drilling because of,   
   "the risks that these activities pose to the economy and environment of   
   our states."   
      
   In a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in June, McMaster wrote,   
   "Every coastal municipality in South Carolina has passed a resolution   
   opposing oil and gas exploration activities offshore. I stand firmly   
   with them. We simply cannot afford to accept the risk of the adverse   
   environmental impact attendant to offshore drilling."   
      
   CBS News reached out to McMaster for comment, but his office did not   
   respond.   
      
   Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican who is running for governor of South   
   Carolina, issued a similar letter to Burgum, writing, "In South   
   Carolina, there is widespread bipartisan agreement in opposing offshore   
   drilling off the coast of our state."   
      
   The Trump administration tried to open new offshore oil leases during   
   his first term, but backtracked when Florida, North Carolina and South   
   Carolina lawmakers from both parties criticized the effort. The Trump   
   administration instituted bans on offshore drilling in waters   
   surrounding those states shortly before the 2020 election. The current   
   iteration of the plan does not include offshore oil leases off Florida's   
   coast, but it is unclear whether those bans will continue off the   
   Carolinas.   
      
   CBS News reached out to the White House and Department of Interior for   
   more information about the plans. A White House spokesperson declined to   
   comment on ongoing policy discussions.   
      
   The Biden administration issued a record low number of offshore oil   
   leases, and withdrew 625 million acres along the Pacific, Atlantic and   
   Alaska coasts from offshore oil development. The Trump administration   
   rescinded those Biden withdrawals, and a federal court in Louisiana   
   ruled this month that the Biden withdrawals were illegal.   
      
   Offshore oil leases have been unpopular for decades. Congress had a   
   moratorium preventing drilling on both coasts and the eastern Gulf from   
   1981 to 2008, and President George H.W. Bush issued an executive order   
   preventing offshore drilling which stood until 2008, when his son lifted   
   the order.   
      
   The Obama administration had once considered opening the Atlantic coast   
   to offshore oil leases but changed its stance following the Deepwater   
   Horizon oil spill in the Gulf.   
      
   The Department of Interior is expected to publish its first proposal on   
   the subject in the coming weeks. There will be two additional comment   
   periods before a final plan is proposed and implemented.   
      
   https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-offshore-oil-leases-us-coastlines/   
      
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