The government may be shut down, but not the part that works to help oil companies
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Government workers may be showing up for their jobs with no paychecks in sight. Families that depend on SNAP to put food on the table may be looking at empty plates. The overall economy may be losing so much momentum that it’s actually on the verge of contrThe government may be shut down, but not the part that works to help oil companies
Government workers may be showing up for their jobs with no paychecks in sight. Families that depend on SNAP to put food on the table may be looking at empty plates. The overall economy may be losing so much momentum that it’s actually on the verge of contraction. But even in the midst of Donald Trump’s arbitrary shutdown, there is a group singled out for special attention. As Mother Jones reports, even though the Interior Department has been reduced to an absolute skeleton staff, with everyone from park rangers to office workers on furlough, the handful of people still at their desks are devoting themselves to America’s neediest—oil and gas companies. Americans may not be able to get help with their tax forms, or count on getting through an airport in time to make a flight, but the Bureau of Land Management is still processing applications for new oil and gas drilling. That includes drilling in the new offshore areas that Trump opened up for oil production last year, and areas carved out of formerly protected zones, such as former national monument areas and former wildlife refugee areas. As the MJ article states, Interior is devoting staff to this area, even if it means bringing people back from their not-a-vacation, to continue implementing “the Administration’s America First energy strategy.” So even after a solid month of the shutdown, with people wondering how they’re going to pay their bills or feed their families, oil companies will get to press ahead with exploration in new areas. This might make some level of sense if there were a worldwide crisis of oil and gas production. There’s not. Storage facilities are full, and the biggest threat to many oil companies is actually the continuing low prices of a glutted market. And even if there were some form of emergency, it would take years for drilling permits being issued now to turn projects from exploration into development and production. This is a non-emergency that’s being treated as an emergency. But then, the same thing can be said of the entire shutdown, and the justification for Trump’s wall. With immigration across the southern border at a 40-year low, there’s absolutely no argument to be made concerning economic or security threats, and the only humanitarian issue at the border is the one Trump is creating by simply not allowing in more people more quickly. As long as Trump can continue to make sure none of his friends feel any pain from his actions, those actions are likely to continue. Read more