"The Trump administration is aggressively sweeping aside regulations protecting public land to clear a path for expanded oil and gas drilling.

A memorandum from the Interior Department, made public Thursday, directs its field offices “to simplify and streamline the leasing process” so that federal leases to the oil and gas industry can be expedited “to ensure quarterly oil and gas lease sales are consistently held.”

According to the memo, which was dated Wednesday, doing so will ease such “impediments and burdens” as months-long environmental reviews that assess the impacts of drilling and potential spills on land and wildlife."

Darryl Fears reports for the Washington Post February 1, 2018. [2]