Decision to halt lease sales for oil drilling in Arctic should be lauded

Last week, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced that it had canceled two major lease sales for oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean.In a statement, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell pointed to Royal Dutch Shell's late September decision to cease operations in the Arctic Ocean. Shell, which had already secured the permits needed for oil exploration in the Arctic, found insufficient oil reserves there to justify the extensive regulatory conditions in place in the region. These decisions, rightfully lauded by environmentalists, mark a crucial step toward combating climate change. 

Studies by researchers at University College London show that one-third of the world’s oil reserves -- and all Arctic oil -- must stay in the ground in order to prevent global temperatures from rising by more than two degrees Celsius, an increase that would likely have catastrophic implications for the planet. As it is, the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world. When Arctic oil is then burned, the planet, and the Arctic especially, only gets warmer. It is a vicious cycle that only exacerbates environmental risks.

The Obama administration's decision to end drilling in the region helps to position the United States as a cooperative global partner in the effort to combat climate change. It is by no means all that can and should be done, but it is not an insignificant step.

The decision to cancel the leases also reduces the likelihood of a major oil spill occurring in the region -- a disaster that would wreak havoc on the physical environment, marine life and the livelihoods of the people who live there. When the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management evaluated Shell’s original drilling plans for the region, it concluded that there was a 75 percent chance of one or more large spills occurring. Unfortunately, the National Research Council found that the United States does not have the infrastructure or capacity to properly deal with an oil spill in the Arctic.

Drilling also has immediate human impacts for people in the Arctic. The Inupiat, a native Alaskan people with a population of around 7,500, is heavily dependent on subsistence whaling to sustain their lifestyles. Pollution in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, where Shell was looking to drill, would have caused serious damage to the Inupiat economy.

The Department of the Interior's choice to halt drilling marks significant environmental progress. Drilling in the Arctic is unfeasible for companies and has severe environmental consequences. Canceling the lease sales is an important first step in preventing future drilling in the area, promoting the welfare of all parties involved.

That being said, it is important to also be mindful of the fact that for much of his presidency, Barack Obama has shied away from fully committing to climate change prevention. Though late is certainly better than never, it is a shame that the president has been too worried about the political consequences of strong actions on climate change. The fact remains that the science is incontrovertible -- climate change is already killing thousands of people each year. When the consequences of climate change become unavoidable, the stalling that has caused this important change and others like it to be so heavily delayed will seem like far more than a frustrating game of petty politics.