The Trump administration on Monday moved to relax environmental rules governing the extraction of oil, gas and coal from public lands across the country.<\/p>\n
The Interior Department issued a pair of proposed rules that would reduce costs and weaken requirements for fossil fuel companies that operate on federal lands. The first rule would drastically lower the fees that companies must pay before drilling, while the second could allow firms to release more methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.<\/p>\n
Together, the proposals were the latest effort by the Trump administration to boost drilling and mining on millions of acres of lands and waters that the federal government owns. President Trump has summarized his energy policies as \u201cdrill, baby, drill,\u201d and his administration has taken sweeping actions to dismantle environmental regulations<\/a>, sideline conservation<\/a> and fast-track the leasing of public lands for fossil fuel production.<\/p>\n Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement on Monday that the moves would ease burdensome restrictions on domestic energy production.<\/p>\n \u201cEnergy dominance requires regulatory clarity,\u201d Mr. Burgum said. \u201cThese targeted updates cut through the red tape that has historically deterred investment, ensuring our public lands remain a reliable engine for economic growth and innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n The first proposal would significantly lower the cost of the bonds that fossil fuel companies must pay the Interior Department upon purchasing a drilling lease on multiple public lands in a state, from $500,000 to $25,000.<\/p>\n The agency uses this money to remediate the environmental damage left by abandoned oil and gas wells. The Biden administration increased the costs of these bonds more than tenfold<\/a> in an effort to ensure that companies, not taxpayers, covered any cleanup costs.<\/p>\n