Obama, by last minute kingly decree, permanently shuts off Atlantic and Arctic drilling

[Anti Federalist]

Ah, it's good to be king.

Obama will use his executive authority to impose new permanent bans on offshore drilling

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-...220-story.html

Invoking a rarely used provision in federal law, the Obama administration on Tuesday announced a permanent ban on offshore drilling in broad parts of the Arctic and Atlantic coasts — a sweeping and controversial move that will help secure the president’s environmental legacy even as critics vowed to reverse it.

The ban relies on the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953, which says the president “may, from time to time, withdraw” federal waters from oil and gas development that are not already leased. It was announced as part of a joint action with Canada, where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also made long-term, though not permanent, commitments to protect the Arctic from drilling.

Obama cited the Arctic’s “unique ecosystem,” the risk of damage from a spill, the high cost of working in the remote and frigid region and concerns about climate change.

“It would take decades to fully develop the production infrastructure necessary for any large-scale oil and gas leasing production in the region – at a time when we need to continue to move decisively away from fossil fuels,” the president said in a written statement.

The announcement, coming one month to the day before Obama is to be succeeded by President-elect Donald Trump, is intended to help counter plans by the incoming administration to vastly expand energy extraction by fossil fuel companies.

Trump made clear his intentions for robust new drilling during the campaign, and his appointment to key cabinet posts of longtime loyalists to the oil industry has alarmed environmentalists. Major conservation groups had been pushing Obama in recent weeks to put the offshore areas off limits in perpetuity.

[enhanced_deficit]

Yea he's been quite busy:

▪ Appointed people to a slew of boards and commissions, including the American Battle Monuments Commission, United States Air Force Academy’s Board of Visitors, the Pacific Salmon Commission and National Council on Disability. Some are new appointments, some are renewals.
▪ Granted a record number of commutations to federal inmates as part of an initiative announced in 2014 to reduce the sentences of non-violent drug dealers to a sentence they likely would have gotten under today’s more lenient sentencing guidelines.
▪ Awarded the Presidential Medals of Freedom to 21 more recipients, which pushed him to a record number for his tenure, to “folks who have helped make me who I am.”
▪ Finalized rules to determine whether schools were succeeding or failing under the sweeping the Every Student Succeeds Act; released the next five-year plan for offshore oil and gas leasing, which blocks drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic; and denied a permit for a pipeline to run through North Dakota, a victory for local Native Americans.

Obama is rushing to Trump-proof the White House

[phill4paul]

Was this argued in Congress? I don't remember Amash opposing it.

[Anti Federalist]

Was this argued in Congress? I don't remember Amash opposing it.

Congress?

I doan need no steekin Congress...

[timosman]

Congress?

I doan need no steekin Congress...

They have their own last minute sessions where tons of bills are rammed through at the end of the year while nobody is paying attention.

[Origanalist]

Ah, it's good to be king.

Obama will use his executive authority to impose new permanent bans on offshore drilling

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-...220-story.html

Invoking a rarely used provision in federal law, the Obama administration on Tuesday announced a permanent ban on offshore drilling in broad parts of the Arctic and Atlantic coasts — a sweeping and controversial move that will help secure the president’s environmental legacy even as critics vowed to reverse it.

The ban relies on the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953, which says the president “may, from time to time, withdraw” federal waters from oil and gas development that are not already leased. It was announced as part of a joint action with Canada, where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also made long-term, though not permanent, commitments to protect the Arctic from drilling.

Obama cited the Arctic’s “unique ecosystem,” the risk of damage from a spill, the high cost of working in the remote and frigid region and concerns about climate change.

“It would take decades to fully develop the production infrastructure necessary for any large-scale oil and gas leasing production in the region – at a time when we need to continue to move decisively away from fossil fuels,” the president said in a written statement.

The announcement, coming one month to the day before Obama is to be succeeded by President-elect Donald Trump, is intended to help counter plans by the incoming administration to vastly expand energy extraction by fossil fuel companies.

Trump made clear his intentions for robust new drilling during the campaign, and his appointment to key cabinet posts of longtime loyalists to the oil industry has alarmed environmentalists. Major conservation groups had been pushing Obama in recent weeks to put the offshore areas off limits in perpetuity.

If he has the power to do this then the next president has the power to undo it.

[CaptUSA]

Anything enacted by decree can be repealed by decree. (although, they rarely are)

But in this case, the current price of oil is keeping new drilling sites to a minimum anyway. This is like adding an eye-dropper to a bucket.

[Anti Federalist]

If he has the power to do this then the next president has the power to undo it.

According to the article and government lawyers, it will take an act of congress to reverse his kingly decree, based on teh law which gives the executive this power.

[Origanalist]

According to the article and government lawyers, it will take an act of congress to reverse his kingly decree, based on teh law which gives the executive this power.

It's the LA Times, of course they are going to say that.

[Origanalist]

According to the article and government lawyers, it will take an act of congress to reverse his kingly decree, based on teh law which gives the executive this power.

My feeling is that if he doesn't, it's because he doesn't want to. There really seems to be no limits these days.