Government Energy Policy, Business and Technology

Analysis | The Energy 202: The two problems with Trump's offshore drilling push

The Washington Post: President Trump is moving forward with a campaign promise to reopen federal waters in the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic oceans for oil and gas drilling.

But he and his administration still haven't fully answered the question: How much interest is there, really, in opening these waters to fossil fuel exploration and exploitation?

On Monday, the Interior Department published notice in the Federal Register that it is seeking public comment on the effects offshore drilling would have on 26 areas in U.S. waters in the Gulf of Mexico, North Atlantic Ocean, Arctic Ocean and Pacific Ocean both off the coast of Alaska and the lower 48 states.

The "request for information" is the first step in formally unwinding the five-year plan for oil and gas drilling President Obama put in place when he left office, which kept 90 percent of the outer continental shelf off limits as his administration sought to mitigate human impact on ocean life and reduce the emissions of planet-warming gases.

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