Trump Trying To Hide 3.5 Years Of Bald-Faced Environmental Destruction With Oil Drilling Flip-Flop
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Ultimately, Trump's move yesterday represents one of the biggest policy reversals of his presidency. In 2018, as part of his "energy dominance" agenda, Trump's Interior Department proposed allowing drilling in the eastern Gulf and along the entire Pacific and Atlantic coasts, as well as all around Alaska. The proposal was in line with what the oil and natural gas industry has long wanted, along with most of the Republican Party — save for some coastal lawmakers and virtually every GOP member of the Florida congressional delegation.
"This is a start on looking at American energy dominance," then-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said, adding that the plan would make the U.S. "the strongest energy superpower" (Greenwire, Jan. 4, 2018). But the move faced immediate political backlash. Leaders all along the coasts, of both parties, resisted, and Zinke soon said waters near Florida were off the table — a promise whose exact limits were unclear.
By 2019, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said the plan was on hold, blaming a ruling in Alaska's federal court that said the administration couldn't undo Obama's ban on Arctic Ocean drilling — which used the same authority Trump used yesterday. Administration attorneys are still appealing that ruling, claiming such bans are not binding on future presidents. Trump boasted about his 2018 proposal as recently as July. "We opened up ANWR in Alaska to energy exploration, ended the moratorium on coal leasing on federal lands, and reopened public lands and offshore areas to oil and gas exploration," Trump said in a Texas speech on energy policy.
In his speech yesterday, Trump did not recount his personal or political journey on this issue, and the elected officials who joined him onstage were only there to smile and applaud.
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https://www.eenews.net/stories/1063713209
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