Drill, Baby, Drill
The Trump administration unveiled a controversial proposal Thursday to permit drilling in most U.S. continental-shelf waters, including protected areas of the Arctic and the Atlantic, where oil and gas exploration is opposed by governors from New Jersey to Florida, nearly a dozen attorneys general, more than 100 U.S. lawmakers and the Defense Department.
Under the proposal, only one of 26 planning areas in the Arctic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean would be off limits to oil and gas exploration, according to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. He said the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management has identified 47 potential areas where industry companies can buy leases between 2019 and 2024, when the proposed period would begin and end. (our emphasis)The lawsuits stemming from this proposal will be from red and blue state governments alike, and will hopefully derail it from getting further than Zinke's fevered brain. Meanwhile, Democrats need to stress how profoundly and radically reactionary this proposal is, and firmly attach its ramifications to Republicans seeking office in coastal states.
Up In Smoke
Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday made it easier for U.S. prosecutors to enforce federal marijuana laws in states that had legalized the substance — drawing swift criticism from jurisdictions that have approved pot use and stirring confusion among entrepreneurs in the burgeoning billion-dollar industry.
Whether Sessions’s Justice Department actually busts dispensaries or others involved in state-approved pot production remains to be seen, but his decision to undo previous guidance and possibly put a federal crackdown on the table riled business people, legislators and civil liberties advocates across the country. (our emphasis)Infidel 753 has a good read about why this should (should) be a winning issue for Democrats if they can overcome their timidity on the subject (as well as it's the right thing to do).
Whether it's health insurance, environmental protection regulations, climate change, voting rights, dreamers, etc., it's the goal of this rotted- out regime to turn back the clock as far and as fast as possible. While they can always be counted on to be on the wrong side of history, perhaps soon -- thanks to such policies -- they'll also be on the wrong side of an electoral wave.
