Interior oil and gas work continues despite federal shutdown

The Trump Administration is continuing to push for expanded oil and gas drilling permits despite the partial federal government shutdown, drawing a rebuke from House Democrats as well as environmentalists. According to National Public Radio, emails show an Interior Department employee working to schedule public meetings for a plan covering the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska earlier this month during the shutdown. A message NPR sent to the employee received an automated response indicating that the employee was barred from working due to the shutdown. The Associated Press reported Wednesday that Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., the chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, sent acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt a letter calling for a halt of ongoing work pertaining to upcoming offshore lease sales, seismic permits and a five-year drilling plan. Grijalva accused the administration of caring about the shutdown’s effects on its favorite industry rather than its widespread effects on federal workers...MORE