Interior starts process to expand offshore drilling plan

The Interior Department announced Thursday that it is beginning the first step in redoing the Obama administration’s five-year offshore energy leasing plan to open up more of the nation’s coastline to oil and natural gas drilling as part of President Trump’s America First energy plan.

“The new program is going to replace the current 2017-2022 five-year program,” said Vincent DeVito, counselor to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on a call with reporters, explaining that the Obama administration left out many areas for development and in many cases excluded energy development.