The Obama administration took a number of actions Friday to restrict future offshore drilling in the Arctic Ocean.
The Interior Department is canceling two lease sales it had planned over the next year and a half for Arctic drilling rights and denying two oil companies’ requests to extend the time on leases that they currently hold.
The decision comes weeks after Royal Dutch Shell pulled out of the Arctic for the foreseeable future, saying the little oil it found in this summer’s drilling is not worth the cost.
The administration said its decisions are based on the current oil markets and low interest in Arctic drilling.
But it’s also a significant action to crack down on one of the most controversial types of offshore oil and gas drilling that has environmentalists fired up in opposition.
“In light of Shell’s announcement, the amount of acreage already under lease and current market conditions, it does not make sense to prepare for lease sales in the Arctic in the next year and a half,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in a statement, complimenting her staff’s work overseeing the safety and environmental standards of Shell’s drilling in the Chukchi Sea, about 70 miles northwest of Alaska’s coast.
Shell’s Chukchi lease is due to expire in 2020. Norway’s Statoil had also requested an extension of a lease expiring in 2017 in the nearby Beaufort Sea, which was also rejected.
Well I guess that takes care of that. At least for the duration of the Obama administration.
And Hillary Clinton has already tweeted that she is opposed to drilling in the Arctic, which means unless there is a Republican in the White House in the near future the Arctic is safe from the environmental impact caused by oil spills.
Well at least from American oil companies that is.
Okay is it possible that we all got played by President Obama?
I mean I got pretty pissed off at the President over the fact that he allowed Shell oil to drill in the Arctic Ocean in the first place, only to see them fail miserably.
And now with this decision it seems he is using that failure to justify restricting ALL drilling in the Arctic. You know, just as if he planned it all along.
Why do I get the feeling that in about twenty years people are going to start learning what was really going on behind the scenes of this presidency and that their minds will be blown when they do?
The man is smarter than all of us. That's why that idea of him on the Supreme Court is so very intoxicating.
ReplyDeleteI'll have what you're having, dviares!
DeleteAnd AK's idiot governor just got SERVED.
DeleteYet, liberals are often harder on him than the teapublicans. At the first sign of a hint of not aligning with liberal ideas, they are quick to abandon him.
DeleteNot this liberal. He's actually the only politician I have ever trusted in my life. I know trust and politics is an oxymoron but POTUS is not your common politician.
DeleteApparently 2:33 never heard of the Simpson-Bowles Commission, Obama's attempt to screw over the poorest Social Security recipients. And hasn't heard of the TPP and the environmental threats inherent to it, not to mention all the other ways it'll screw the 99% to benefit the 1%, which Obama is just fine with. Apparently also doesn't remember Obama's refusal to hold anyone in the Bush administration accountable for lying us into Iraq, either.
DeleteBlind worship of Obama is just as wilfully ignorant as blind worship of Palin.
And Gryphen, if you really think Obama would play a game of chicken with the Arctic environment... then you're also admitting Obama WAS willing to take the chance that drilling there WOULD discover oil and lead to much more drilling.
best 3 D chess player by far.
ReplyDeleteI suspect this is what got Sarah so flippin' pissed off yesterday. What I find very satisfying is that her FB screed on ISIS and drill baby drill was not picked up my ANYONE in the news.
ReplyDeleteO/T, this is another step that is being taken to stop the crazies on the right and they are NOT happy about it!
Right Wing Loses it Over DOJ’s Announced Domestic Terrorism Counsel
Now that the Department of Justice has created a new position to combat domestic terrorism, conservatives, as predicted, are hopping mad. Their response is to do some Republican math to transform themselves from the threat to the victims.
Breitbart was quick to pick up the story of course, and warn that Obama sees veterans as terrorists, and Alex Jones’ Infowars warns that “Given past history, DOJ’s “domestic terrorism counsel” will politically persecute libertarians and conservatives.”
http://www.politicususa.com/2015/10/17/wing-loses-dojs-announced-domestic-terrorism-counsel.html
Exxon-Mobil Lands In Hot Water Over Climate Change Report
ReplyDeleteExxon-Mobil is in a high puddle of hot water over reports that they knew about climate change and their contribution to it as early as the 1970s, but buried the evidence so they could keep on making the billionaire bucks.
"In this case, Exxon scientists knew about fossil fuels causing global warming and Exxon took internal actions based on its knowledge of climate change," Lieu and DeSaulnier wrote. "Yet Exxon funded and publicly engaged in a campaign to deceive the American people about the known risks of fossil fuels in causing climate change."
"If these allegations against Exxon are true then Exxon's actions were immoral," they added. "We request the DOJ to investigate whether ExxonMobil's actions were also illegal."
The LA Times investigation found that while senior Exxon researcher Ken Croasdale studied the long-term impact of climate change on the companies operations, Exxon was "crafting a public policy position that sought to downplay the certainty of global warming."
http://crooksandliars.com/2015/10/exxon-mobil-lands-hot-water-over-climate
Now that corporations are people -- they are very bad very bad people. I don't know how they can sleep at night.
DeleteAnd they should be different than Big Tobacco because....
DeleteMy faith will be restored when President Obama finds a way to agree with the Russians on preserving the al-Assad regime in Syria. The envisioned "reset" can only start there and I for one cannot see how US interests align with the Turks. Prez may be smarter than me but I don't believe his advisors are. I just don't. And yeah, I'm just a janitor and that for not much longer.
ReplyDeleteYou should publish your opinions. Maybe his dumb "advisors" can learn something. If not, there is always FOX News. I think they have an opening. I hear one of their experts was recently arrested.
DeleteBut I can't get published. Do you know why? It's this:
Delete"Adviser and advisor are both accepted spellings of the noun meaning one who advises or counsels. There is no difference between them. But adviser, the older version, is listed as the primary spelling in most dictionaries, and it is about five times as common as advisor in current news publications from throughout the English-speaking world."
"RAF given green light to shoot down hostile Russian jets in Syria"
Deletehttps://uk.news.yahoo.com/raf-given-green-light-shoot-133352631.html#TGUwAqu
Hold on tight.
My comment had nothing to do with the spelling. Only that you think you're probably smarter than all of the President's advisers/advisors.
DeleteOh damn you caught me out 6:49 Anonymous.
DeleteWhat garbage to say his initial decision to allow drilling was some kind of ruse to get them to stop drilling. When are brainwashed liberals going to wake up about this the most conservative of Democratic presidents of all time. If Shell had decided to go ahead with drilling, there would be drilling. Just like the Republicans say, let the free market decide; and Shell decided it was not in their best interest to drill.
ReplyDeleteSince when do Democrats bail out banks? There was a better way to solve that problem, which included helping PEOPLE keep their houses. Since when do Democrats bail out big business (auto companies) especially when that business is getting rid of unions and moving production plants out of country?
There is merit in what you say, admittedly, but I look to Theodore Roosevelt's presidency as the model. And it's the model of a mixed blessing.
DeleteI don't think President Obama is the most conservative Democratic president of all time. Not as long as Bill Clinton is remembered. But I also do not think Obama was playing 3D chess, or ever does play it. Or I hope he would not. Especially not with a fragile ecosystem like the Arctic. That would be no better than just straight out handing over drilling rights to Shell. Because how would he know in advance that Shell would strike out?
DeleteTo answer the question: maybe the CIA is good for something after all.
DeleteI wonder how much damage Shell did just to find out there wasn't enough oil to be worth their while investing?
DeleteUm Anon 7:22 You do know those old leases were done by the Bush admin don't you?
Delete7:22 Since when do trolls camp out at IM spewing Republican talking points?
DeleteAnon 9:05
DeleteConsidering his flip/flop decision, it's moot to bring up Bush at all. It was Obama's decision both ways.
Anon 9:25
DeleteWOW, you missed it all together. Can you read? Republican talking points? HA HA HA HA HA I'm more liberal than the brainwashed like you who praise Obama the conservative.
You have selective amnesia. The bank bailouts were in progress when Obama took office. The auto industry bailout saved thousands of jobs and was a big part of saving the economy. It was a cleaning up of the republican disaster.
DeleteWish Sarah could shut down the Arctic drilling happening in Bristol's bedroom.
ReplyDeleteObama's tactic is one hat smart parents often use. Give hebkid just enough rope hang themselves (figuratively) and teach them a lesson through experience. Want to eat 2 ice cream cones , go ahead. Tummy ache lesson. Want to stay up latevwathing TV, sure. Oh, you played like shit in that baseball game next morning.
ReplyDeleteAnd after all, Scarah and her ill are nothing but overgrown pre-teens, stuck in permanent rebellion against common sense.
Sarah and her ilk -- too many Americans are infantalized --kept that way by poor education, crap TV and brainwashing by religious cults & Faux News.
DeleteWhat if Shell HAD discovered enough oil to make drilling for them and other companies worthwhile? Or are you saying that Obama is psychic?
DeleteI have to admit when the president ok'd Shell to get drilling just as he visited Alaska---I thought something was up.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to think something is also up when it comes to him keeping the military in Afghanistan. The man is an enigma wrapped in a riddle . . . I shall miss him.
I don't think he'll be going away -- he has progressive America's interest at heart. Like Jimmy Carter.
DeleteLike what? Had Obama already secretly drilled up there and knew Shell wouldn't find much? No, of course not. And if Shell had lucked out, instead of failing, it would be drilling away with Obama's blessing.
DeletePlease just try to get real about this.
I bet you're right, 8:09, and the President will continue to be a force for positive change.
DeleteI especially got a kick out of the Republican delegation from Alaska whining like crazy over President Obama's actions. The nasty, hard to watch or listen to, Lisa Murkowski, especially!
DeleteI can hardly wait to see her NOT reelected in her next go around. She damned near lost last time!
AGAIN for comprehension, those old leases were signed by BUSH not Obama. He had no choice but to honor them DUH!
Delete8:15 Interestingly enough he probably did know they would find nothing because the geologist probably knew it-----but the company was invested and had to save face with investors. People do talk. Sadly the NSA is still a fact. I suppose that is about as real as you can get.
DeleteOh please. Companies do not waste millions MORE dollars to save face with investors, if they already know it's going to be a waste of time. And the drilling Shell still performed before concluding it wasn't a viable project was hardly good for the environment. Shell was still hoping to find oil, and Obama was fine with letting it. There was no 3D chess involved, just the usual risk oil drillers take, and this time it didn't pan out.
Delete9:36 And you are so angry about the eventual outcome? Or is it a bit of praise for the president. Or just a basic curmudgeonly outburst.
DeleteEither way----Namaste.
...Now that the President took the Arctic Ocean region completely off the table, it is obvious that the only inevitability is that he is devoted to doing everything within his Executive authority to combat global climate change and protect the environment. Coupled with all the other environmental protection actions and bold efforts to combat climate change, it is no wonder the Koch brothers and Republicans have spent no small amount of time and money to oppose this President; even though they have lost at every turn.
Deletehttp://www.politicususa.com/2015/10/18/president-obamas-bold-step-stops-arctic-oil-drilling.html
OT Willow has apparently dyed her dog's hair. Alert PETA! https://instagram.com/p/867l25ggRv/
ReplyDeleteHuh?
DeleteWas the dog going gray?
Looks like Bristol's groomer has been reading Japanese dog grooming magazines. One can only hope she used safe dyes.
Probably for Halloween and hopefully vegetable dyes. Interesting that as the girls go older they all had to get a tiny puppy for love.
DeleteGood, now her pussycat matches her dog. What talents those Palin gals have!!!
DeleteI'm glad you are finally waking up to Obama's brilliance. I've never doubted him in the long run. Remember, when in war you don't win every battle. He knows this.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure President Sanders would be against it too.
ReplyDeleteBy the time a Republican returns to the White House (in the very distant future) either climate change will make drilling impossible or we will have switched to more renewable sources that will make it economically unfeasible.
I felt more than a little queesy about this in the beginning too. But, I know POTUS is an outstanding poker player when it comes to dealing with the idiots on the right, so I've just been waiting for something like this to happen. Same thing with TPP. I think he has an ace hidden up his sleeve.
ReplyDeleteHey, maybe $arah can petition the Secretary of Energy! ROFL
ReplyDeleteCan't wait for the punchline.
ReplyDeleteI trust the president consulted with geologists and scientists and has his ducks in a row. Wait for the energy czar, Sarah's rancid facebook rant. "Should have called Amsterdam to fix the oil leak" logic. LMAO