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Trump's Interior Reopens 625M Acres For Oil, Gas Drilling, Slashes Biden's Climate Policies
Interior Secretary Burgum orders review of Biden's oil lease cancellations
by Thomas Catenacci Feb 5, 2025 in Energy, News, Politics Reading Time: 3 mins read
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offshore oil rig
The Trump administration is reopening oil and gas leasing across hundreds of millions of acres of federal lands and waters that the Biden 
administration locked up. [emphasis, links added]


In a series of orders Monday evening, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum revoked Biden-era actions that blocked drilling across 625 million acres of 
federal waters nationwide-an area equivalent in size to a third of the continental United States-in the 19-million-acre Arctic National Wildlife 
Refuge in Alaska and the state's 23-million-acre National Petroleum Reserve.

The actions, while expected, signal an abrupt change in how the Interior Department will approach oil and gas leasing issues during the Trump 
administration.

Under Biden-era Interior Secretary Deb Haaland's leadership, the agency pursued an aggressive climate strategy, severely restricting oil and gas 
drilling and mining while expanding green energy production on public lands and waters.

"We are committed to working collaboratively to unlock America's full potential in energy dominance and economic development to make life more 
affordable for every American family while showing the world the power of America's natural resources and innovation," Burgum said in a statement.

Burgum unveiled a six-pillar plan to implement President Donald Trump's energy agenda: address the national energy emergency, unleash American 
energy, deliver emergency price relief for American families, revoke former president Joe Biden's offshore drilling bans, roll back regulations, and 
unleash Alaska's resource potential.

As part of the second pillar to unleash American energy, the Interior Department said it would encourage exploration and production on federal lands 
and waters.

Burgum ordered a review of the Biden administration's five-year offshore drilling plan, which included the fewest lease sales in history, and of the 
Biden administration's oil lease cancellations.

The department also said it would seek to limit foreign influence in key industries by greatly expanding the mining of non-fuel minerals, including 
rare earth minerals.

Shortly before leaving office, the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management issued a 20-year mining ban across 20,510 acres of South Dakotan 
land, home to large critical mineral deposits vital for energy technologies.

The agency similarly blocked mining across large areas in Minnesota and Alaska that are also home to some of the world's richest critical mineral 
deposits, which activists opposed over environmental concerns.

As part of the department's new effort to roll back regulations, the Interior Department will eliminate at least 10 existing regulations for every 
new one introduced and "ensure that the costs of new regulations are offset by removing the costs of previous ones."

"These actions will align U.S. energy policy with the nation's current and future needs," National Ocean Industries Association president Erik Milito 
said on Tuesday.

"They will enhance energy security, bolster national defense, grow our economy, and keep energy affordable for every household and business, reducing 
reliance on foreign adversaries."

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