President Obama Stops Oil Drilling in the Arctic Ocean

A five-year offshore drilling plan has been set out by the Obama administration to block off any possible oil drilling activities in the Arctic Ocean, specifically in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas north of Alaska. Set out for 2017 to 2022, the new offshore plan may save the deteriorating conditions of the Arctic environment.

This is an impressive victory for environmentalists as they have been continuously claiming that industrial activities such as oil drillings in the North have caused a severe decline in the populations of different species. These include walruses, whales, and many more.

But though the five-year drilling plan has blocked industrial activities in the Arctic Ocean, there are still regions that have not been saved. Drilling is expected to continue in places such as Cook Inlet in Alaska and Gulf of Mexico, which includes the coasts off Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas.

According to a report from CNN, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said that the plan has considered a few factors during its proposal. They deliberated places with the lowest conflict, but with the highest resource potential. Since they saw that there are a number of detrimental issues to note with continuous activities along the Arctic environment, they decided that it would be best to leave it out of the five-year plan. They also decided to specifically note it as one of the places barred from industrial activities.

About 400 scientists have signed the petition to ban offshore drilling along the coasts of the Arctic. This became an influential factor in the decisions made within the plan.

A lot of environmentalists are afraid that President-elect Donald Trump can rewrite this blueprint once he takes oath in January. He has the capability to do so; however, the painstaking process of refurbishing the plan could take months or even years, giving enough time for environmentalists to think of another move.