On Tuesday, President Obama announced a ban on offshore drilling for oil and natural gas within several areas of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans.
In a joint press release with Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, the White House stated: “Today – due to the important, irreplaceable values of its Arctic waters for Indigenous, Alaska Native and local communities’ subsistence and cultures, wildlife and wildlife habitat, and scientific research; the vulnerability of these ecosystems to an oil spill; and the unique … challenges and risks of oil extraction and spill response in Arctic waters – the United States is designating the vast majority of U.S. waters in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas as indefinitely off limits to offshore oil and gas leasing.”
Both countries would also launch “the first processes ever to identify sustainable shipping lanes throughout their connected Arctic waters,” reduce the “use of Heavy Fuel Oil,” and regulate fisheries and related closures.
The statement comes in the wake of a U.S.-Canada climate change agreement that both countries signed this past March. The president also issued an order in the spring that prohibited energy companies from operating in the Artic, according to the BBC. And in November, Obama blocked new drills from setting up in the Arctic Ocean, which environmentalists and energy industry supporters have debated about for years. But as CNBC notes, Tuesday’s ban differs from last month’s action as it not only stops future lease sales but halts drilling indefinitely.
Niel Lawrence, Alaska director of the Natural Resources Defense Council, told Bloomberg News on Monday that “this is a gift to the public and to our kids that will rank with any in the history of American conservation.” Jacqueline Savitz, a senior vice president with the conservation group Oceana, also hailed it as “a good decision.”
Those who support more oil and gas exploration, however, think that would get in the way of local and national energy demands.
Noting Native Alaskan support for drilling, Lucas Frances of the Arctic Energy Center told Bloomberg that, “the administration has always justified a ban on Arctic development because of an alleged lack of local support or industry interest. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the Obama administration is playing politics with the future of Alaska.”
Erik Milito, the American Petroleum Institute’s upstream director, also said in a Tuesday statement that “our national security depends on our ability to produce oil and natural gas here in the United States…. This proposal would take us in the wrong direction just as we have become world leader in production and refining of oil and natural gas and in reduction of carbon emissions.”
President-elect Donald Trump, for his part, stated in his platform that he wanted to “open onshore and offshore leasing on federal lands” and increase energy development nationwide. However, it remains unclear whether he—along with his fellow Republicans in Congress—will be able to undo the current president’s ban.
