Democrats blast Trump administration for oil and gas activities during shutdown
In the West, President Trump’s administration is “working nearly unimpeded” on oil and gas leasing. In Alaska, it has “barely slowed” efforts to open Arctic wilderness to fossil fuel development. And off the nation’s coasts, it is “moving full speed ahead” to craft a plan to auction off ocean drilling rights.
House Democrats levied accusation after accusation against the Trump administration yesterday on Capitol Hill for seeming to give preferential treatment to the oil and gas industry during the partial government shutdown.
More than a dozen Cabinet-level departments in the federal government have ceased all but the most essential activities after running out of congressionally appropriated funds late last year. They include the Interior Department, which oversees oil and gas leasing on thousands of acres of public lands.
But what gets classified as essential government work largely depends on who is in charge of the executive branch. For the Trump administration, much of the work done to lease and permit oil and gas activities is a go.
That fact has rankled Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.) and other newly empowered House Democrats who held a forum on Thursday hosted by the Natural Resources Committee. (A forum, not a hearing, since the committee has not yet officially reconstituted.)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-energy-202/2019/01/25/the-energy-202-democrats-blast-trump-administration-for-oil-and-gas-activities-during-shutdown/5c4a2b731b326b29c3778cc0/?utm_term=.85164b7410d3
