Surrounded by miners from Rosebud Mining, President Trump signs the Energy Independence Executive Order rolling back measures enacted by predecessor Barack Obama. (Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)The White House is taking steps that could open up new areas of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans to offshore oil and gas drilling, according to multiple individuals briefed on the proposal. Zinke’s comments highlighted the extent to which Trump’s March 28 executive order is already reverberating throughout the federal government. The Pacific coast has been closed to new oil and gas exploration since the disastrous oil spill off Santa Barbara, Calif., in 1969. There has been no drilling off the Atlantic coast since the early 1980s.

Source: Washington Post April 07, 2017 20:27 UTC