Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Deb Haaland has revoked a series of energy-related secretarial orders (SO) issued under the Trump administration and established a climate task force to coordinate across the department.

Secretary Deb Haaland

Haaland did so last Friday by signing two SOs of her own, reflecting a see-saw pattern of executive action that is becoming routine as Republican and Democrat administrations take turns in the White House. 

The revoked orders all were signed either shortly after Trump took office in 2017, or in 2020, his last full year as president. They sought to promote extraction of natural gas, oil and coal resources on federal property, remove regulatory hurdles for energy extraction and infrastructure, and expand oil and gas development in protected areas such as...