User:AEMaloy/Marine policy of the Barack Obama administration

Offshore oil drilling in the Arctic

High-profile events during the Obama presidency focused attention on the safety of deepwater oil drilling in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the U.S. The April 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico occurred shortly after the Interior Department released a five-year plan for oil and gas development of the U.S. outer continental shelf (OCS). President Obama appointed a bipartisan committee to determine the causes of the blowout and to recommend policies to prevent future disasters. In 2015, hundreds of kayakers, led by a canoer from the Lummi Nation, protested plans to drill for oil and gas in the Beaufort Sea and Chukchi Sea. They surrounded a drilling rig in waters off Seattle, Washington and prevented its departure.

Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (AANWR) (also known as Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, ANWR)

During his time in office, Obama issued 3 presidential memorandums (114: “Arctic Research and Policy Act”, 410: Withdrawal of Certain Areas of the United States Outer Continental Shelf Offshore Alaska from Leasing Disposition”, and 608: “Withdrawal of Certain Portions of the United States Arctic Outer Continental Shelf from Mineral Leasing”) and an executive order (13543: “National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling,”) related to off-sore drilling which could be applied to the Arctic region. Additionally he issued executive order 13689: “Enhancing Coordination of National Efforts in the Arctic” which created an Arctic Executive Steering Committee comprised of all levels of government from local and state to federal agencies as well as Alaska Native tribal governments, academic and research institutions and other nonprofit, private, and Alaska Native organizations to work in a coordinated effort when dealing with the environmental changes being observed in the Arctic. On December 20, 2016 the White House issued the United States-Canada Joint Arctic Leaders’ Statement which focused on supporting strong Arctic communities, ensuring low impact shipping corridors, and science-based management of Arctic fisheries. Also in December, 2016, under the authority of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953, a new Arctic policy of Barack Obama included actions to remove almost all U.S. Arctic waters (as well as large portions of the NW Atlantic continental shelf) from the offshore oil program.

Ten days after the 2016 presidential election, the Interior Department released its 2017-2022 plan for offshore oil and gas leasing. On April 28, 2017, President Doland Trump issued executive order 13795: “Implementing an America-First Offshore Energy Strategy” which attempted to overturn Obama’s designation of the arctic region as  from offshore drilling. This sparked a debate as to whether it is possible to overturn the designation of a protected area by an executive order the area in question remains out of bounds for offshore oil drilling. Biodiversity research published in January 2018 describes how “climate change is altering marine ecosystems worldwide and is most pronounced in the Arctic. Economic development is increasing leading to more disturbances and pressures on Arctic wildlife.”   During January 2018 the Congressional Research Service shared their findings in "Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: An Overview." In June 2019, the Arctic Council in collaboration with Sustainable Development working group published “Good Practices for Environmental Impact Assessment and Meaningful Engagement in the Arctic”. This executive order by President Trump was opposed in a ruling by the U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason of Alaska.

Fall of 2019 three bills were proposed in the US House of Representatives (H.R.1146: “Arctic Cultural and Coastal Plain Protection Act”, H.R.1941: “Coastal and Marine Economies Protection Act”, and H.R.205: “Protecting and Securing Florida’s Coastline Act of 2019”) to block offshore drilling off Florida, on the Pacific coast, and within the AANWR. Unlike other bill proposals such as H.R.309: "Stop Arctic Drilling Act of 2019" which was introduced in January of 2019 and has yet to pass the house; these three bills have all passed the house and are awaiting Senate response.

The disposition of the Arctic Refuge drilling controversy is yet to be finalized.