Advocacy Group Calls Obama Ban on Drilling in Arctic, Atlantic ‘Historic’ Win

President Barack Obama’s decision to ban offshore drilling in portions of the Artic and Atlantic Ocean represents a historic win in the fight to save marine life and coastal waters, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) President Rhea Suh said in a press release.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday announced actions to permanently ban drilling in most of the US Arctic waters and huge portions of the Atlantic Ocean, the release noted.

“This is a historic victory in our fight to save our Arctic and Atlantic waters, marine life, coastal communities and all they support,” Suh said on Tuesday.

“Today’s bold bi-lateral announcement between Canada and the United States shows North America is leading the world in preserving the Arctic for future generations," Suh stated on Tuesday. "President Obama and Prime Minister Trudeau have created an indelible legacy as true stewards of the most fragile and threatened ecosystem in the world, and we urge the other Arctic leaders to follow suit."

The US is designating a vast majority of US waters in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas in the Arctic as indefinitely off limits to offshore oil and gas leasing while Canada will designate all Arctic Canadian waters as indefinitely off limits to future offshore Arctic oil and gas licensing, the White House stated in a news release on Tuesday.

The terms for offshore drilling leasing and licensing will be reviewed every five years through a climate and marine science-based life-cycle assessment, the White House noted.