U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an “emergency order” that shortens the approval process for new oil and gas projects to 28 days from several years previously.
President Trump made the change to oil and gas permitting under the “national energy emergency” that the White House declared earlier this year.
The new expedited permitting process covers not only %Oil and natural gas but also %Coal, %Uranium, and critical mineral mines.
“The United States cannot afford to wait,” said U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum in a news release. “President Trump has made it clear that our energy security is national security, and these emergency procedures reflect our unwavering commitment to protecting both.”
The Trump administration’s focus on developing the energy sector comes at the expense of clean energy projects that involve solar and wind.
That fact has frustrated environmentalists and the technology industry that are focused on clean, renewable sources of power.
President Trump campaigned on a promise to let oil and natural gas companies in the U.S. “drill, baby, drill.”
The U.S. president has also taken steps to allow drilling in previously protected areas of Alaska, and to revive coal mines across America.
In using “emergency orders” to expand oil and natural gas projects, the White House is bypassing any consultation process and public comment period.
The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil, the U.S. standard, is currently trading at $63 U.S. per barrel.
