Praised as a necessity by the industry, President Trump is wasting his time with some of the areas proposed for offshore drilling, an attorney said. Ryan Zinke , the secretary of the interior for President Donald Trump , said Thursday that nearly all of the outer continental shelf would be open to drillers in the next five-year lease starting in 2019. Under the current lease plan, released by former President Barack Obama , the Trump administration said about 90 percent of the total acreage offshore was put off limits. The proposed program, now open for public comment, calls for 19 lease sales offshore Alaska, seven in the Pacific Region, 12 in the Gulf of […]