Rep. Zinke has his work cut out for him to reverse these troubling trends. The law requires federal lands to be managed for multiple uses including energy production, not just to be designated as national monuments
Trump's Interior Dept. Has Opportunity to Turn Around Dismal Leasing Policies
Last week, the Senate held a confirmation hearing on Rep. Zinke's nomination to be the next Secretary of the Interior. One of President Trump's biggest energy-related campaign promises was to open up onshore and offshore oil and gas leasing. For Rep. Zinke, it will be a real challenge to get oil and gas leasing back to where it was during the Clinton or Bush administrations.
The following chart shows the average of the total number of acres leased during the year by presidential term. The Bureau of Land Management has not released the FY 2016 data yet, so the most recent data is FY 2015. In FY 2015, the Obama administration leased a mere 810,068 acres and all indications are that FY 2016 is going to be even worse.
Bureau of Land Management The data is fiscal year data so Obama's first term is FY2009 through FY2012.
