Two years after former-Interior Secretary Zinke released “Energy Burdens Report,” analysis finds department fulfilled industry wishes
DENVER—This week marks exactly two years since the Interior Department released a report recommending an exhaustive list of regulatory rollbacks of policies that “burden the development or use of domestically produced energy resources.” The deregulatory roadmap was developed after former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke sent a request to industry stakeholders, asking companies to identify regulations to be eliminated or revised. Drilling and mining interests, including the American Petroleum Institute, ConocoPhillips, and the National Mining Association, readily responded, ensuring their priorities would be taken up by the Trump administration.
An analysis from the Center for Western Priorities finds that the Interior Department has taken action on 43 of 49 policy recommendations in the Energy Burdens Report, completing 33 rollbacks. The policy changes include eliminating rules to capture methane waste from public lands drilling, weakening protections for endangered wildlife, and watering down safety rules for offshore drilling.
“This analysis lays bare the breathtaking speed at which the Interior Department is implementing the policy wishes of the drilling and mining industries. It’s clear that Secretary Bernhardt, a former oil lobbyist, is pulling out all the stops to advance drilling and mining by stripping protections for our lands and wildlife,” said Center for Western Priorities Policy Director Jesse Prentice-Dunn. “After completing nearly everything on their deregulatory agenda, the only question is ‘what’s left to destroy?’”
