Arctic offshore sales are not included in the five-year drilling plan created under President Barack Obama. They also say oil companies have not demonstrated that they can clean a spill in ocean waters choked with ice or covered by sea ice. Obama kept Arctic waters out of the current five-year lease plan and took the additional step of permanently withdrawing most Arctic waters from lease sales under provisions of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke in early January announced a new draft five-year lease plan that included 19 possible sales off Alaska. “Oil companies that want to drill in the Beaufort Sea will meet a wall of public and legal opposition,” she said.

Source: National Post March 29, 2018 21:28 UTC