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Tuesday, March 19th, 2019

US official reveals Atlantic drilling plan while hailing Trump’s ability to distract public

Author:     Jimmy Tobias
Source:     The Guardian (U.K.)
Publication Date:     Thu 14 Mar 2019 10.00 GMT
Link: US official reveals Atlantic drilling plan while hailing Trump’s ability to distract public
Stephan:   As I have told you, again and again, the media seems able to only focus on a couple of stories a day, with some 30-second mentions of others. Trump has figured that out, so while he is running his fog machine out of the White House, his agencies, at the functional operational level, are wreaking all manner of damage to the structure of governance. Here is an example of what I mean. If Trump stays in office two more years the government dismantlement may be beyond repair.

The Trump administration has spearheaded an effort in recent years to open undeveloped federal waters to oil and gas drilling.
Credit: Eugene Garcia/EPA

A top US official told a group of fossil fuel industry leaders that the Trump administration will soon issue a proposal making large portions of the Atlantic available for oil and gas development, and said that it is easier to work on such priorities because Donald Trump is skilled at sowing “absolutely thrilling” distractions, according to records of a meeting obtained by the Guardian.

Joe Balash, the assistant secretary for land and minerals management, was speaking to companies in the oil exploration business at a meeting of the International Association of Geophysical Contractors, or IAGC, last month.

“One of the things that I have found absolutely thrilling in working for this administration,” said Balash,“is the president has a knack for keeping the attention of the media and the public focused somewhere else while we do all the work that needs to be done on behalf of the American people.”