The Trump administration, inviting a political backlash from coastal state leaders, on Thursday proposed to open for exploration the largest expanse of the nation’s offshore oil and natural gas reserves ever offered to global energy companies, including waters off the coast of California.
An oil platform sits in the distance as California brown pelicans fish in oil-contaminated water from an inland oil spill near Refugio State Beach on May 20, 2015, north of Goleta. (Credit: David McNew/Getty Images)
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said the draft five-year leasing plan would commit 90 percent of the nation’s offshore reserves to leasing, with 45 lease sales proposed in 25 of 26 areas off the nation’s coastlines between 2019 to 2024.
Twelve leases are proposed for the Gulf of Mexico, and 19 are proposed for coastal Alaska. Leases are proposed for three Interior Department planning areas off the California coast, Interior Department officials said.
“This is a start on looking at American energy dominance and looking at our offshore assets and beginning a dialog of when, how, where and how fast those offshore assets could be or should be developed,” Zinke said in a conference call with reporters.
Read the full story on LATimes.com.
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