5/31/2017

OIL/POLITICS: “The Trump administration ordered a review of oil reserves and production on Alaska’s vast public lands, an early step in potentially opening more areas of the state to drilling—including the now-protected Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke signed the order Wednesday [5-31-17] in Anchorage, Alaska.
The move is likely to add to the growing political divide between the Trump administration and environmental groups, especially after President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he could back out of agreements in the Paris climate accord.
The Republican White House already has drawn fire for a series of environmental rollbacks of Obama-era policies, including when President Trump signed an executive order in April to ease regulations on offshore and onshore drilling—particularly off Alaska.
Mr. Zinke’s order calls for updated geologic assessments of both the 23 million-acre National Petroleum Reserve and a 1.5 million-acre coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.”

-Jim Carlton, “Trump Administration Explores More Drilling in Alaska,” The Wall Street Journal online, May 31, 2017 7:08pm