The Trump administration is reopening oil and gas leasing across hundreds of millions of acres of federal lands and waters that the Biden administration locked up. [emphasis, links added]
In a series of orders Monday evening, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum revoked Biden-era actions that blocked drilling across 625 million acres of federal waters nationwide—an area equivalent in size to a third of the continental United States—in the 19-million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska and the state’s 23-million-acre National Petroleum Reserve.
The actions, while expected, signal an abrupt change in how the Interior Department will approach oil and gas leasing issues during the Trump administration.
Under Biden-era Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s leadership, the agency pursued an aggressive climate strategy, severely restricting oil and gas drilling and mining while expanding green energy production on public lands and waters.
“We are committed to working collaboratively to unlock America’s full potential in energy dominance and economic development to make life more affordable for every American family while showing the world the power of America’s natural resources and innovation,” Burgum said in a statement.
Burgum unveiled a six-pillar plan to implement President Donald Trump’s energy agenda: address the national energy emergency, unleash American energy, deliver emergency price relief for American families, revoke former president Joe Biden’s offshore drilling bans, roll back regulations, and unleash Alaska’s resource potential.
As part of the second pillar to unleash American energy, the Interior Department said it would encourage exploration and production on federal lands and waters.
Burgum ordered a review of the Biden administration’s five-year offshore drilling plan, which included the fewest lease sales in history, and of the Biden administration’s oil lease cancellations.
The department also said it would seek to limit foreign influence in key industries by greatly expanding the mining of non-fuel minerals, including rare earth minerals.
Shortly before leaving office, the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management issued a 20-year mining ban across 20,510 acres of South Dakotan land, home to large critical mineral deposits vital for energy technologies.
The agency similarly blocked mining across large areas in Minnesota and Alaska that are also home to some of the world’s richest critical mineral deposits, which activists opposed over environmental concerns.
As part of the department’s new effort to roll back regulations, the Interior Department will eliminate at least 10 existing regulations for every new one introduced and “ensure that the costs of new regulations are offset by removing the costs of previous ones.”
“These actions will align U.S. energy policy with the nation’s current and future needs,” National Ocean Industries Association president Erik Milito said on Tuesday.
“They will enhance energy security, bolster national defense, grow our economy, and keep energy affordable for every household and business, reducing reliance on foreign adversaries.”
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