Offshore drilling in parts of Atlantic, Arctic to be banned by Obama

US President Barack Obama is planning to ban offshore oil and natural gas drilling in some parts of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans using a section of the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to implement the protections.

The action would answer calls from environmentalists to implement so-called 12(a) protections in the Atlantic and Arctic as a more lasting legacy against fossil fuels from Obama. But it is still unclear how large the protected areas will be.

The outgoing US President made a final plan last month for offshore drilling lease sales from 2017 to 2022 that excludes the Atlantic and Arctic. However, the plan’s time period is limited, and President-elect Donald Trump can revise the plan to insert lease sales if he wishes.

Previous presidents have used the 1953 law rarely. In each case, they focused on small areas of water and set time limits in an effort to protect particular species.

Although it is also unclear how easily Trump can undo the protections, since no previous president has tried to roll back a predecessor’s actions under that law. Congress may also step in to undo Obama’s actions.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau might also announce similar action to block drilling in Canada’s portion of the Arctic.

The United States’ portion of the Arctic is estimated to have 27 billion barrels of oil and 132 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The Atlantic has not had testing for oil and gas with modern technology.The country’s offshore drilling industry is based almost entirely in the Gulf of Mexico, with limited production off California’s coast.

The oil and gas industry has been pushing the federal government for years to open more areas at least to exploration, with limited success.

The Atlantic does not currently have any offshore drilling. The Arctic does not have any drilling that is in federal waters with traditional, mobile drilling rigs.