According to a White House statement on Tuesday, using his executive authority President Barack Obama permanently blocks oil drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans. And according to a joint statement from Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Canada will also halt oil and gas exploration in its own Arctic waters.
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The move by Obama to protect the planet from climate change and potential oil spills comes just weeks before Donald Trump takes office. Donald Trump appears dead set on rolling back Barack Obama’s climate change progress. Trump famously referred to climate change as a Chinese hoax.
Obama Permanently Blocks Oil Drilling
In a call with reporters on Tuesday, a White House official said that the president’s action recognizes the unique ecological value in these areas. The withdrawal includes 115 million acres in the Arctic and 3.8 million acres in the north and mid-Atlantic Ocean, according to the Interior Department.
Sally Jewell, Interior Secretary in the Obama Administration, said in the statement that president Obama had taken “bold action” that “will help build the resilience of these vital ecosystems, provide refuges for at-risk species, sustain commercial fisheries and subsistence traditions, and create natural laboratories for scientists to monitor and explore the impacts of climate change.”
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The White House official is quoted as saying “No president has every acted to reverse an indefinite withdrawal,” the official said. “And we believe there is a strong legal basis that these withdrawals … will go forward and will stand the test of time.”
The White House believes that by acting with Canada the U.S. has reinforced the partnership between the two countries and ultimately strengthening the chances the drilling ban will stand a hostile Trump administration. “The United States is not acting alone today,” the official said. “One of the principal arguments that people had made against the U.S. protecting its Arctic waters was perhaps all of that [oil and gas] activity would move into Canadian waters. And by acting jointly with Canada, I think we’ve sent a powerful signal.”
The joint actions taken by the U.S. and Canada, the White House said in its statement will protect a “sensitive and unique ecosystem that is unlike any other region on earth.”And it went on to say, “They reflect the scientific assessment that, even with the high safety standards that both our countries have put in place, the risks of an oil spill in this region are significant and our ability to clean up from a spill in the region’s harsh conditions is limited.”
