In one of his final moves in the waning days of his presidency, President Obama designated huge swathes of seas off of the coast of the Atlantic seaboard and the Arctic Ocean off limits to off-shore oil and gas lease sales. While in-coming president, Donald Trump has vowed while on the campaign trail to […]
Children’s singer and songwriter Raffi may have brought beluga whales into popular culture with his 1980 song “Baby Beluga,” but surprisingly little is actually known about the life and ecology of these elusive marine mammals that live in some of the world’s most remote, frigid waters. Two distinct populations spend winters in the Bering Sea, […]
In announcement on Friday, the Department of the Interior cited current market conditions and low industry interest as reasons for the cancellation of two potential Arctic offshore lease sales that were scheduled under the current five-year offshore oil and gas leasing program for 2012-2017. This news comes after Shell’s announcement that it would cease further exploration […]
Even while opening up areas of the Atlantic in areas that included off-shore Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia, to off-shore drilling for oil, President Obama revealed his plan to to propose 9.8 million acres off-limits to to consideration for off-shore development in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. His announcement drew quick reaction and […]