Particle.news

Download on the App Store

Environmental Groups Sue Trump Administration Over Offshore Drilling Expansion

Lawsuits challenge Trump's efforts to revoke Biden-era and Obama-era protections for U.S. coastal waters, citing legal and environmental concerns.

Environmental activists rally against offshore drilling during a demonstration in Lafayette Park in Washington, U.S., May 15, 2016.  REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo
Image
A boat pulls a wake boarder past an oil rig just off the coast of Huntington Dog Beach in Huntington Beach on Saturday morning, March 9, 2024. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Environment groups are challenging the legality of US President Donald Trump's efforts to expand offshore drilling

Overview

  • Two lawsuits were filed by environmental groups to block President Trump's executive orders expanding offshore oil and gas drilling in U.S. coastal waters.
  • The first lawsuit opposes the revocation of Biden-era protections for 265 million acres of federal waters, including parts of the Arctic, Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf of Mexico.
  • The second lawsuit seeks to reinstate a prior court ruling that invalidated Trump's first-term attempts to reverse Obama-era protections for Arctic and Atlantic waters.
  • Environmental groups argue that the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act does not grant the president authority to undo permanent protections established by previous administrations.
  • Trump's executive orders are part of a broader push to boost fossil fuel production, including withdrawing from the Paris climate accord and halting offshore wind projects.