US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that would remove the bans on drilling for oil and gas in offshore Atlantic and Artic areas. The President said that lifting of the ban would give jobs to Americans and it would profit billions of dollars for the country.
"Our country's blessed with incredible natural resources, including abundant offshore oil and natural gas reserves, but the federal government has kept 94 percent of these offshore areas closed [to] exploration and production," Trump has said in the White House. He added that because of this, it deprives America of potential thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in wealth, according to an article published in Phys.org.
Trump did not mention the environmental reason for the ban on drilling for oil and gas in the Artic and Atlantic areas. The ban was brought upon by the previous US president Barack Obama.
In his presidential campaign. Trump promised to change the Obama-era environmental protections. He said that these acts delay the development since these cannot provide tangible benefits. With that promise, it pleased some industry and ignited criticisms from environmental advocates.
In an article published in SBS, Trump ordered to review all the bans under the Obama administration. He said that it is for the purpose of responsible development of offshore areas that could deliver revenue to the country and jobs for the Americans who are unemployed.
Trump reviews that in the indefinite prohibition of the drilling activities in the Artic Ocean off Alaska under the Obama administration, it includes the locations of Beaufort and Chuckchi seas. it also includes 31 underwater canyons in the Atlantic Oceans. The prohibition was also enacted last December on the basis of a 1953 law called the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.
The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act could provide Trump or the previous presidents a power to withdraw offshore areas from commercial use. This was previously used by presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Bill Clinton.
