Reason #5758 That Trump Was Elected

From Joe For America via Wombat-socho's "In The Mailbox: 10.26.17": Trump Opens Up 76,000,000 Acres to Off-Shore Drilling, Largest in History!

On Tuesday morning, the Trump administration took another historic step toward ensuring America’s energy independence for the future by opening up over 76 million acres of federal water to potential drilling, The Washington Times reported.

By opening up these waters to be leased out for drilling, the Trump administration broke a record. This is the largest lease sale in American history, and is sure to make oil companies positively giddy.

“In today’s low-price energy environment, providing the offshore industry access to the maximum amount of opportunities possible is part of our strategy to spur local and regional economic dynamism and job creation and a pillar of President Trump’s plan to make the United States energy dominant,” Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke explained.

The territory that is being opened for drilling is roughly the size of New Mexico, and includes areas in the Gulf Coast, near Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

“(T)he economic terms proposed for this sale include a range of incentives to encourage diligent development and ensure a fair return to taxpayers,” Zinke added.

The Washington Examiner reported that some estimates claim that up to 48 billion barrels of oil and 141 trillion cubic feet of natural gas are in the Gulf of Mexico, just waiting to be tapped.

If we can access those resources, it would ensure that we would no longer need to be reliant on the Middle East for oil, and we could secure America’s energy dominance for decades.

The Hill noted that back in April, Trump set the stage for this by signing an executive order that rolled back President Barack Obama’s limits on offshore drilling.

And Stephen Green at Instaundit:  LOOKS LIKE AMERICAN FRACKERS (and offshore drillers) JUST GOT ANOTHER MARKET-SHARE BOOST: Oil Rises as Saudi Prince Backs Longer OPEC Production Cuts.