Trump administration aims to auction offshore oil leases along U.S. coastlines that have been off-limits for decades

CBS News has seen internal Department of Interior documents that show the Trump administration plans to auction off offshore oil drilling licenses in new areas of the U.S. coastline as early as 2026.

New leases will include waters near New England, Carolinas, and California.

There are many offshore oil leases along the Gulf Coast of Texas, Louisiana and Alaska. However, there are no active oil leasing on the Atlantic Coast, and California is without a new lease since 1984.

The Department of Interior officially announced this week plans to reopen 1,56 million aces on the Coastal Plain of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas leasing. This reverses a Biden Administration decision to restrict oil drilling in Arctic.

This decision was strongly criticized by Democrats, such as Sen. Edward J. Markey from Massachusetts, who claimed that the administration had rewarded the fossil fuel industry in return for their support of President Obama. Markey stated in a press release that this decision was not about energy dominance, but rather about donor dominance. The Trump administration must reverse its shortsighted decisions immediately. The Arctic Refuge will not be sold.

As part of the National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program that issues oil leases at five-year intervals, the Department of Interior is assessing leases . The Biden administration had set the previous plan, and only three leases were issued.

CBS News reviewed documents that assessed whether or not state governments supported offshore drilling. The results showed that they did not. Documents also listed potential dates for leasing every parcel of seafloor.

If the Interior Secretary approves the plan and it moves forward, California, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, could have lease sales by 2027. The lease would give a company five to ten years to explore the area and develop the oil and gas production, depending on how deep the water is.

In April , the Trump administration launched a public comments period on a new policy for five-years gas leasing. Members of Congress, state governors and other lawmakers from both parties expressed concerns over offshore drilling. The process received more than 34,000 public comments.

The Governors of North Carolina and South Carolina, , Josh Stein and Henry McMaster, , issued a joint statement opposing this idea. They said that there was a broad bipartisan consensus against offshore drilling, citing “the risks these activities pose for the economy and the environment of our States.”

McMaster in a June letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum wrote: “Every coastal town in South Carolina passed a resolution against oil and gas exploration offshore. I am firmly behind them. “We simply cannot accept the environmental risk associated with offshore drilling.”

CBS News contacted McMaster’s office for a comment, but the office did not reply.

Rep. Nancy Mace (a Republican running for governor in South Carolina) sent Burgum a letter similar, writing: “In South Carolina there is broad bipartisan support against offshore drilling off our coast.”

The Trump administration attempted to open new offshore leases during its first term but backed down when Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina legislators from both parties criticised the effort. Shortly before the 2020 elections, the Trump administration banned offshore drilling near these states. The plan as it stands does not include any offshore oil leases along Florida’s coastline, but it’s unclear if the bans will be extended to the Carolinas.

CBS News contacted the White House and Department of Interior to get more information on the plans. The White House declined to comment further on the ongoing policy discussions.

The Biden administration issued an unprecedented low number of offshore leases and withdrawn 625 million acres from offshore oil development along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. The Trump administration reversed the Biden withdrawals and a Louisiana federal court ruled that they were illegal.

Since decades, offshore oil leases are unpopular. From 1981 to 2008 Congress imposed a drilling moratorium on both coasts, including the eastern Gulf. President George H.W. Bush issued a executive order prohibiting offshore drilling, which lasted until 2008 when his son lifted it.

Obama’s administration once considered leasing oil off the coast of the Atlantic, but its position changed after the Deepwater Horizon oil leak in the Gulf.

In the next few weeks, the Department of Interior will publish its first proposal. Two additional comment periods will take place before a final proposal and implementation is made.

Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-offshore-oil-leases-us-coastlines/

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