Trump said to seek biggest offshore drilling increase in decades

These old oil rigs﻿ are in the Santa Barbara Channel off California. The Trump administration is expected to propose auctioning oil and gas drilling rights in the Arctic Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and possibly Pacific waters around the U.S.﻿ less These old oil rigs﻿ are in the Santa Barbara Channel off California. The Trump administration is expected to propose auctioning oil and gas drilling rights in the Arctic Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, the eastern ... more Photo: Al Seib, MBR Photo: Al Seib, MBR Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Trump said to seek biggest offshore drilling increase in decades 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The Trump administration is poised to open the door to selling new offshore drilling rights from the Atlantic to the Arctic oceans, igniting a fight with coastal residents worried about oil spills befouling beaches and jeopardizing tourism dollars.

The proposal - set to be the most expansive such offering in decades - is a response to President Donald Trump's April order encouraging the Interior Department to auction drilling rights in Atlantic waters that former President Barack Obama ultimately ruled out after a backlash from communities up and down the U.S. East Coast.

The plan, set to be unveiled in the coming days, will propose auctioning oil and gas drilling rights in the Arctic Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and possibly Pacific waters around the U.S., said people familiar with the program who asked not to be identified before a formal announcement.

Trump's proposal will meet the same opposition that encouraged Obama to scrap proposed Atlantic drilling, vowed Sierra Weaver, a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, a conservation group.

"We know there's a bull's-eye on the Southeast," Weaver said. "The coast woke up last time around, and they definitely know what's at stake, they know they need to raise their voices, and they now know what their coast is worth."

The Interior Department's draft is only an opening bid - and the plan could change after public meetings and required environmental reviews. Nonetheless, it will illustrate the Trump administration's interest in giving the oil industry new places to drill offshore, well beyond the Gulf of Mexico that has been developed for decades.

That is expected to also include Pacific waters off the U.S. West Coast, despite opposition from lawmakers for California, Oregon and Washington state. The government last sold oil leases off the coast of California decades ago, and there has been opposition to offshore drilling in the region since a 1969 oil spill near Santa Barbara.