The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Blue Shark, an 87-foot patrol boat homeported in Everett, Wash., and an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Port Angeles, Wash., escort the 674-foot Curacao-flagged semi-submersible heavy lift ship Blue Marlin to its anchorage location in Port Angeles Bay, Wash., April 17, 2015. Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, Clallam County and City of Port Angeles boatcrews assisted in escorting the vessel. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Chief Petty Officer Scott Bigelow)

Arctic Drilling Ban

December 20, 2016 U.S. Policy

Dec. 2016

President Obama announces that 98 percent of U.S.-controlled Arctic waters (115 million acres) and 3.8 million acres of underwater canyon along the Atlantic coast will be permanently withheld from any future oil and gas leasing under the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act

President Obama noted that 鈥淸These actions] 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鈥檚 harsh conditions is limited… By contrast, it would take decades to fully develop the production infrastructure necessary for any large-scale oil and gas leasing production in the region 鈥 at a time when we need to continue to move decisively away from fossil fuels.鈥 Simultaneously, the Canadian government announces it will withdraw all oil and gas leases in Canadian Arctic waters.* The Wall Street Journal鈥檚 editorial response: 鈥淭his rule even purports to be 鈥榩ermanent,鈥 unchangeable by any future President for all time. We鈥檒l see about that, but in the meantime spare us the liberal panic about Donald Trump鈥檚 supposed authoritarianism… No policy decisions are engraved in stone as if through holy stenography, and they鈥檙e definitely not beyond democratic consent on the basis of a 63-year-old law.鈥**

*Samantha Page, 鈥淥bama Permanently Protects Huge Portions of Arctic, Atlantic from Offshore Drilling,鈥 ThinkProgress, December 20, 2016, https://thinkprogress.org/permanent-protections-arctic-atlantic-e6978298eae1#.xukkcm6dm
**Editorial Board, 鈥淥bama鈥檚 鈥楶ermanent鈥 Drilling Freeze,鈥 Wall Street Journal, December 21, 2016,
http://www.wsj.com/articles/obamas-permanent-drilling-freeze-1482364429