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VA federal workers fight Trump's repeal of collective bargaining; DOGE cuts to National Parks impact NM; a federal judge begins contempt proceedings against Trump administration for using the Alien Enemies Act; and manure runoff affects all states, including NC.

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Some 1,400 military and overseas ballots could be tossed in the uncertified North Carolina Supreme Court race, the State Department closes its office monitoring foreign disinformation, and GOP-led states move to end mail-in voting grace periods.

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Money meant for schools in timber country is uncertain as Congress fails to reauthorize a rural program, farmers and others will see federal dollars for energy projects unlocked, and DOGE cuts threaten plant species needed for U.S. food security.

Are MD coastline protections safe in the Trump era?

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Friday, January 24, 2025   

Days before the end of his term, President Joe Biden announced sweeping protections for the nation's coastlines.

President Donald Trump has vowed to retract them.

Biden used the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to withdraw large portions of the areas from being leased for future oil and gas drilling. The protected areas include Maryland, as part of the entire Atlantic coast, plus the U.S. Pacific coast, eastern Gulf of Mexico and parts of the Northern Bering Sea near Alaska.

Robert Percival, director of the environmental law program at the University of Maryland, said Trump tried to repeal coastline protections in his first term and got some pushback.

"It would be difficult," Percival explained. "When Trump tried to roll back, during his first term, some areas that had been protected by previous presidents, a judge said that the Act did not clearly give the president the authority to roll them back. So, it's kind of an open legal question."

This week, on his first day in office, Trump announced he has rescinded Biden's protections for the Outer Continental Shelf. Percival predicted there will likely be legal challenges.

Percival added every president, including Trump, has used the law to protect some parts of the Outer Continental Shelf, noting it is difficult to bounce between protecting land and rescinding protections.

"Once you develop it, then it's not going to be pristine," Percival stressed. "That's one of the reasons why it's important to have durable environmental protections, so that you aren't constantly changing the character of the lands and creating new risk."

Oil production across the country is at a record high, and the Outer Continental Shelf currently accounts for nearly 15% of U.S. oil production. Energy companies have yet to start production on more than 80% of the 12 million acres already under lease, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior.


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