The federal government shutdown is not stopping the Trump administration from advancing its coverage priorities, particularly in the case of fossil fuels.
When it introduced its contingency plans for the shutdown, the Bureau of Land Administration mentioned that employees who’re answerable for processing leases and permits for oil and fuel, leases for coal or “other energy and mineral resources necessary for energy production” would nonetheless should work.
Since that point, it has continued to approve drilling permits. Between Oct. 1 and Wednesday, the bureau accepted 474 permits to drill on public lands.
That determine is pretty in step with earlier months when the federal government was open, with 494 permits accepted in August and 505 in September.
Inside Secretary Burgum mentioned throughout a latest occasion that the administration is scrounging up funding wherever it will possibly to pay individuals for actions resembling approving permits.
“Whether it’s a an entrance fee at a park, I’ve got nobody out there to collect that, whether it’s getting permits done, we’re grabbing any cash that was laying in any drawer to try to pay those essential people, including the people that can do the permitting, so that we can keep going,” Burgum mentioned final week throughout an occasion on the Basis for Protection of Democracies.
“We’re on a track way ahead of last year in terms of permitting, and whether it’s permitting, timber, grazing, oil and gas, infrastructure, easements… if it crosses federal land, we’re trying to do everything we can to not be handicapped,” he added.
Inside Division spokesperson Kristen Peters mentioned in an e mail that drilling permits have been being processed “using associated filing fees.”
She added that the Bureau of Land Administration “collects a non-refundable processing fee when an oil and gas operator submits” a allow utility.
On the similar time, Burgum mused that the federal government may think about additional layoffs because of the funding lapse. The Trump administration has broadly sought to put off employees and shrink the scale of the federal government, although mid-shutdown reductions in drive have been halted by the courts.
“What all of us are doing in the Cabinet is taking a hard look at ‘wow, maybe we actually don’t need all of these resources’” Burgum mentioned whereas criticizing Democrats amid the continuing shutdown.
“So maybe they’re actually helping us get to the point where we can say, ‘We don’t need as many people; we don’t need as much cost.’”
Inside specifically has sought to maintain the Trump administration’s fossil gasoline agenda shifting ahead, even because the shutdown hampers different authorities providers.
The contingency plan from the Bureau of Land Administration, which falls below Inside, says that it’s protecting some staffers on with the intention to “address the National Energy Emergency.”
The Bureau of Ocean Vitality Administration’s plan, in the meantime, states that it’ll have staff obtainable “to work on priority conventional energy projects.” The time period “conventional energy” usually refers to fossil fuels.
These precedence initiatives embrace making ready the administration’s plan for offshore drilling for the years forward, in addition to “preparation for the anticipated calendar year 2026 offshore critical mineral lease sales and oil and gas development plans.”
Whereas offshore minerals mining has by no means been achieved at a big scale, the White Home has directed Inside to arrange a program for mining the ocean ground. The plan signifies that the administration plans to public sale off these mining rights subsequent yr.
When the shutdown plans have been introduced, Inside mentioned on social media that it might “ensure permitting and other efforts related to American Energy Dominance are continued.”
Critics argue that the federal government shouldn’t be persevering with to fund fossil gasoline approvals whereas chopping again important providers.
“They can’t find money for SNAP benefits, but they can find money to keep permitting oil and gas drilling. That’s the priorities for this administration right now,” mentioned Aaron Weiss, deputy director of the conservation group Heart for Western Priorities, which has revealed its personal tracker of the administration’s accepted permits.
President Trump has expressed a keenness for fossil fuels and antipathy towards renewables, notably repeating his intention to “drill, baby drill.”
In the meantime, Inside is probably not alone.
The New York Occasions has reported that on the Environmental Safety Company (EPA), staffers are engaged on a plan that may loosen restrictions on coal crops’ mercury releases.
In accordance with Bloomberg Regulation, a key EPA official mentioned final week that staffers with jobs associated to chemical compounds are nonetheless working through the shutdown.
“We’ve been intentional and aggressive in establishing a structure to ensure EPA is focused on statutory obligations & Presidential priorities, not the overreach of the previous administration,” an EPA spokesperson mentioned in an e mail.
“EPA continues to work to fulfill our statutory obligations, emergency response efforts, and Administration priorities,” the spokesperson added. “Despite the Democrat shutdown, EPA maintains essential operations because we are unwavering in our commitment to our mission of providing clean air, clean land, and clean water for all Americans. Moreover, we’ll continue to dismantle the Biden Administration’s wasteful and costly agenda.”
The spokesperson added that the company is working in accordance with its shutdown plan, below which 89 % of the company’s employees was slated for furlough.
The shutdown plan states that issuance of “permits, guidance, regulations, and policies” will stop except they’re “necessary for exempted or excepted activities.”
