In response to news that President Obama may block the sale of new offshore drilling rights in much of the U.S. Arctic and parts of the Atlantic, Greenpeace spokesperson Travis Nichols said:
“If true, millions of people around the world will be grateful to President Obama for permanently protecting the Arctic and the Atlantic coasts from catastrophic oil exploration and development. We know now, more clearly than ever, that a Trump presidency will mean more fossil fuel corruption and less governmental protection for people and the planet, so decisions like these are crucial. President Obama should do this and more to stop any new fossil fuel infrastructure that would lock in the worst effects of climate change.
“Residents of the Gulf coast have also been calling for no new leases, and the President’s Five Year Plan continues to expose that region to oil pollution. The logic of the Paris Climate Agreement and overwhelming scientific evidence mandate that oil production must peak and swiftly decline in the next few years if we’re going to slow climate change. We already have more oil than we can afford to burn and continued drilling will only hurt us all in the long run.”
