![\"\"](\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/climatechronology\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/575\/2016\/12\/cat_us-policy-ltblue_helvneue.jpg\")
<\/p>\nDec. 2016<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
President Obama noted that \u201c[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\u2019s 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 \u2014 at a time when we need to continue to move decisively away from fossil fuels.\u201d Simultaneously, the Canadian government announces it will withdraw all oil and gas leases in Canadian Arctic waters.* The Wall Street Journal\u2019s editorial response: \u201cThis rule even purports to be \u2018permanent,\u2019 unchangeable by any future President for all time. We\u2019ll see about that, but in the meantime spare us the liberal panic about Donald Trump\u2019s supposed authoritarianism… No policy decisions are engraved in stone as if through holy stenography, and they\u2019re definitely not beyond democratic consent on the basis of a 63-year-old law.\u201d**<\/p>\n
*<\/sup>Samantha Page, \u201cObama Permanently Protects Huge Portions of Arctic, Atlantic from Offshore Drilling,\u201d ThinkProgress, December 20, 2016, https:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/permanent-protections-arctic-atlantic-e6978298eae1#.xukkcm6dm 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 \u201c[These actions] reflect the scientific assessment […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1759,"featured_media":69,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[10,14,16,17,24,34,137,140],"class_list":["post-63","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-policy","tag-10","tag-arctic","tag-atlantic-coast","tag-atlantic-ocean","tag-canada","tag-climate-change","tag-obama","tag-outer-continental-shelf-lands-act"],"yoast_head":"\n
\n**<\/sup>Editorial Board, \u201cObama\u2019s \u2018Permanent\u2019 Drilling Freeze,\u201d Wall Street Journal, December 21, 2016,
\nhttp:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/obamas-permanent-drilling-freeze-1482364429<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"