The Trump Interior Department announced Thursday plans to offer blocks in the Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific oceans for oil and gas exploration in an ambitious new five-year offshore lease plan. 
 
 Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said the draft proposal for offshore leasing between 2019 and 2024 would offer about 90 percent of the U.S. outer continental shelf, the largest lease sale ever. The only area that will not be included is the North Aleutian Basin in Alaska. 
 
 The plan would open the door for drilling in areas far beyond the U.S. epicenter of offshore drilling in the central and western Gulf of Mexico, giving oil and gas companies the opportunity to explore areas left out of leases for decades. 
 
 But the move also sets up a battle with environmental groups and coastal governors opposed to drilling off the shores of states from California to North Carolina. Additionally, it comes at a time when oil prices are on the rise, but stuck in a range that makes multibillion-dollar projects in new offshore areas unattractive for many drillers. 
 
 It would also overturn indefinite bans on drilling in much of the Arctic Ocean and parts of the Atlantic announced during the final days of the Obama administration, potentially sparking a court battle over executive authority. 
 
 The administration's expansive lease schedule was widely anticipated. 
 
 In April, Trump signed the America First Offshore Energy Executive Order instructing Zinke to revise the current five-year schedule for leasing blocks of the U.S. outer continental shelf, the waters off the U.S. shore that the federal government governs. At the time, he explicitly said it reversed the Obama administration's ban on Arctic leases. 
 
 Revisions are not uncommon when a new president takes office; Obama initiated a new five-year planning process in his first term. 
 
 The revision process, which includes conducting environmental impact studies and taking public comments, has taken about two years in the past, said Connie Gillette, chief of public affairs for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the unit of the Interior Department that oversees the lease schedule. Gillette confirmed to CNBC that the bureau will attempt to finalize the plan by 2019, but would not circumvent the process. 
 
 Zinke said Thursday that Interior would try to complete the process in "months." 
 
 In its latest plan for the 2017-2022 period, the Obama administration offered a conservative selection of leases in the western and central Gulf of Mexico and Alaska's Cook Inlet, leaving contested areas like the Atlantic, Pacific and eastern Gulf of Mexico off the table. 
 
 Drilling in the Atlantic and Pacific outer continental shelf faces stiff opposition from many governors, including Trump allies like Florida Gov. Rick Scott. 
 
 "I have already asked to immediately meet with Secretary Zinke to discuss the concerns I have with this plan and the crucial need to remove Florida from consideration," Scott said in a statement. 
 
 Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., also plans to challenge the Trump administration's plans to relax offshore drilling safety rules put in place after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. ||||| WASHINGTON—The Trump administration on Thursday proposed opening up nearly all the country’s offshore areas for oil and gas drilling, a move that would touch every coastal state, some that have been off limits to drillers for decades. 
 
 Under the plan announced by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, the government would offer for sale the largest number of oil and gas leases in U.S. history starting late next year. 
 
 ... ||||| The Trump administration is proposing to greatly expand the areas available for offshore oil and natural gas drilling, including off the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. 
 
 The plan, which would include 47 auctions for drilling rights between 2019 and 2024, is part of Trump’s agenda to boost domestic oil and natural gas production to create “energy dominance” and unlock the nation’s “great energy wealth.” 
 
 The only areas excluded from the plan are Alaska’s Bristol Bay — which former President George W. Bush protected — and existing marine sanctuaries. Interior also doesn’t allow drilling around Hawaii or U.S. territories. 
 
 Thursday’s announcement was just one of three major steps the administration must take to write a new plan for offshore drilling rights sales. 
 
 After taking public comments on the proposal, officials must revise it and put out a new proposal and then finalize it, a process that could take more than a year. 
 
 At each of those steps, Interior can remove areas from consideration for drilling, but cannot make new areas available. 
 
 Zinke repeatedly emphasized the fluid nature of the proposal to reporters. 
 
 
 
 “This is a beginning, opening up and saying ‘this is what’s available,’” he said. 
 
 Kate MacGregor, Interior’s principal deputy assistant secretary for land and minerals, emphasized that officials “expect to have a vigorous dialogue with states and local communities, as well as the congressional delegations.” 
 
 Environmentalists slammed the proposal as a giveaway to the oil industry. 
 
 “The Trump administration’s dramatic expansion of offshore oil drilling is beyond reckless,” said Alex Taurel, deputy legislative director at the League of Conservation Voters. 
 
 “Seaside communities, businesses, and elected officials from both parties have consistently opposed risky offshore drilling because of the grave threat it poses to their way of life, our climate, and local economies that rely on tourism and fishing,” he said. 
 
 “This radical offshore drilling free-for-all is a clear example of politics over people, ignoring widespread local and state opposition,” said Diane Hoskins, campaign director at Oceana. 
 
 The announcement also garnered some Republican opposition, mainly from Florida officials. The federal government has long avoided allowing offshore drilling off the state's coasts. A ban on drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, to the west of Florida, is currently enshrined in law, but due to expire in 2022. Zinke's plan would start drilling rights sales there in 2023. 
 
 Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) said he would fight attempts to allow drilling near his state. 
 
 “I have already asked to immediately meet with Secretary Zinke to discuss the concerns I have with this plan and the crucial need to remove Florida from consideration,” Scott said in a statement. 
 
 
 
 Historically, presidential administrations have not allowed drilling off the coasts of states whose leaders oppose it, both as a political consideration and because drilling is difficult without onshore cooperation. 
 
 
 
 Republicans, the oil industry and their allies applauded the proposal. 
 
 
 
 “This new offshore leasing plan is an important step towards harnessing our nation’s energy potential for the benefit of American energy consumers,” Erik Milito, the American Petroleum Institute’s director for upstream operations, said in a statement. 
 
 
 
 “The ability to safely and responsibly access and explore our resources in the Arctic, Atlantic, Pacific and the Eastern Gulf of Mexico is a critical part of advancing the long-term energy security of the U.S.,” he said. “It will also encourage economic growth, spur manufacturing and investment, create thousands of additional U.S. jobs, and strengthen our national security.” 
 
 
 
 “The administration’s draft proposed program unlocks the vast potential of American energy and expands our ability to export oil and gas to our allies around the world,” said Karen Harbert, president of the Chamber of Commerce’s Global Energy Institute. 
 
 
 
 “The plan announced today is a long term commitment to securing our energy future, and would help cement America’s role as an energy superpower, creating jobs and contributing to our economy.” 
 
 
 
 Interior is currently working under Obama’s most recent five-year drilling plan, which covers 2017 to 2022. 
 
 
 
 Obama had initially floated drilling off the Atlantic coast between Virginia and Georgia, as well as off Alaska’s Arctic shore. But both oceans were taken out of his final plan. 
 
 
 
 Interior will soon kick off a 60-day period where it will take public comment on the proposal. 
 
 — Updated at 2:24 p.m.
– In a move environmental groups are calling "absolutely radical" and "beyond reckless," the Trump administration is planning the largest sale on leases for offshore drilling in US history. CNBC reports the proposal, announced Thursday by Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, would open 90% of the US' outer continental shelf—off both coasts and Alaska—to oil drilling. It overturns an Obama-era plan that would have allowed drilling in only 6% of the same area, according to the Wall Street Journal. The only area spared from possible drilling under the five-year plan, which would begin in 2019, is the North Aleutians Basin in Alaska. Zinke says the goal is "to become the strongest energy super power" in the world. The plan is already facing opposition from environmentalists, tourism groups, and even some Republicans. The deputy legislative director at the League of Conservation Voters says the plan poses a "grave threat" to seaside communities, the climate, and local economies, the Hill reports. And a campaign director at Oceana says there is "widespread" opposition at the local level to drilling expansion. Florida Gov. Rick Scott says he will fight to stop drilling off the coast of his state. The plan still faces a year or so of public comments and revisions, during which time areas can be removed from consideration for drilling. The plan could also be taken to court as it overturns bans on drilling in the Arctic and parts of the Atlantic enacted by the Obama administration.