Trump order helps offshore drilling, stops marine sanctuary expansion

Enlarge / Walruses on floating ice, Chukchi Sea. (credit: Keren Su/Getty Images)

In an executive order signed on Friday, President Trump directed his secretary of the interior to review current rules on offshore drilling and exploration. This review is likely to result in a relaxation of the strict protections the previous administration put on offshore oil drilling in the Atlantic and in the Arctic.

According to the Washington Post, a review of the rules is likely to “make millions of acres of federal waters eligible for oil and gas leasing.”

At the same time, Trump’s executive order directed the secretary of commerce to cease designating new marine sanctuaries or expanding any that already exist. According to USA Today, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is also “directed to review all designations and expansions of marine monuments or sanctuaries designated under the Antiquities Act within the last 10 years.” The Post says this “includes Hawaii’s Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, which Obama quadrupled in size last year, and the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts off Massachusetts.”