Trump administration's suspected agenda of letting big oil interests and donors pillage America's sacred public lands for profit

In recent days, details confirming the Trump administration's suspected agenda of letting big oil interests and donors pillage America's sacred public lands

Washington D.C., – New details confirm that the Trump administration is preparing to let big oil interests and donors pillage America’s sacred public lands for profit.

A new review by government watchdog Accountable.US finds that a leaked draft strategy memo from the U.S. Department of the Interior reveals President Trump’s intent of opening up public lands to development in service to oil, gas and coal production. The memo, written by the Department’s officials, includes language that echoes the priorities of oil shill Secretary Doug Burgum, who bluntly considers public lands “assets” on a “balance sheet.”

In addition, President Trump has declared an “energy emergency” that has no basis in reality in order to limit environmental reviews of oil and gas projects on public lands and to fast-track industry permitting and approvals for such projects. This move will enable the administration to prioritize energy production over environmental protection, a shift in policy that could have devastating consequences for our planet.

Accountable.US’ analysis of the leaked Interior plans and “emergency declaration” offers the clearest evidence to date that the Trump administration is preparing policies that favor Big Oil at the expense of our environment and public lands.

The analysis found that President Trump’s moves will directly benefit some major oil industry donors to his 2024 re-election efforts and his second-term inaugural committee. These companies and their executives gave more than $2.2 million to Trump and his affiliated political action committees in 2024 and gave $3 million to his inaugural committee.

“There is no ‘energy emergency’ in America, only a corruption crisis within the Trump administration that can’t wait to sell off America’s public lands to the President’s big oil and gas friends and donors. The big polluter lobby is now set up for a huge return on their investment in the Trump campaign and inaugural slush fund, while our public lands and air and water are treated as ‘assets’ for making money,” said Accountable.US Executive Director Tony Carrk. “The more the President lets his big oil contributors write their own rules, the less say the American people have in their environment and surroundings, while they pay more at the pump. Exactly how Project 2025 planned it.”

Accountable.US’ review also found that the administration’s plans to limit environmental regulations and fast-track industry approvals will likely lead to increased pollution and degradation of our public lands. This includes plans to weaken the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which requires federal agencies to consider the environmental impacts of their actions, and to limit the scope of environmental review for oil and gas projects.

The administration’s emerging plans for letting the oil and gas industry do whatever they please – clean air and water be damned – are the predictable result of the President installing top officials who are in bed with the oil industry and other big polluters, including Trump Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and Deputy Secretary of the Interior Department nominee Katharine MacGregor.

On May 7, Trump’s allies in Congress rammed through big oil and gas giveaways on the budget reconciliation bill that will codify the administration’s plunder of Americans’ public lands, healthcare, education, and other vital services to pay for fossil fuel profiteering and billionaire donor tax cuts. As noted by House Natural Resource Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-CA), the bill “torches clean air and water protections, hands over our public lands to polluters at fire-sale prices, and rigs the rules so oil executives can rubber-stamp their own permits in secret.”

The Accountable.US analysis is based on a leaked draft memo from the Department of the Interior, which was obtained by the Center for Biological Diversity and shared with Accountable.US. The memo outlines the administration’s plans for managing public lands over the next ten years.

The memo includes several troubling proposals, such as a plan to limit the scope of environmental review for oil and gas projects and a plan to sell off large swaths of public land to energy companies at below-market rates. These plans appear to be part of a broader agenda itemized by the Trump administration to roll back environmental regulations and promote the interests of the oil and gas industry.

In April, the administration announced plans to limit the scope of environmental review required by NEPA for major federal projects, such as pipelines and oil and gas drilling operations. The administration also plans to streamline the permitting process for energy projects, which could further reduce environmental oversight.

These plans have drawn criticism from environmental groups, who argue that they will lead to increased pollution and degradation of our public lands. They also say that the administration’s actions are part of a broader effort to dismantle the legacy of environmental protection built up over decades.

“The Trump administration is preparing to unleash a massive plunder of our public lands and our environment,” said Edwin Chen, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “This administration is completely in the pocket of big oil