A Defeat on Offshore Drilling Extends the Trump Administration's Losing Streak in Court
Center for Progressive Reform 2019-05-22
Summary:
The Trump administration's push to boost fossil fuel extraction has received a major setback. On March 29, Judge Sharon Gleason of the U.S. District Court for Alaska ruled invalid Trump's order lifting a ban on oil and gas drilling in much of the the Arctic Ocean and along parts of the North Atlantic coast. Gleason held that the relevant law -- the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act -- authorizes presidents to withdraw offshore lands from use for energy development, but not to reverse such decisions by past administrations.