The White House announced Tuesday that no oil and gas drilling off the coast of Georgia and the Southeastern United States will be allowed, a major victory for environmentalists and coastal communities and a crushing defeat for energy companies and many elected officials.
Sally Jewell, secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, tweeted Tuesday morning that the decision not to drill “protects the Atlantic for future generations.” An official announcement is expected by noon.
The Obama administration last year paved the way for the first drilling ever in the outercontinental shelf with a proposal to allow oil and gas exploration over huge swaths of the Atlantic Ocean. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management reviewed potential drilling sites off Georgia, Virginia and the Carolinas that could produce more than 3 billion barrels of oil and 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Within a decade, thousands of rigs could’ve dotted the horizon, though out of site of coastal observers.
Dozens of Atlantic coastal communities, including Savannah, Brunswick and St. Marys, signed resolutions opposing exploration due to environmental, tourism and fishing concerns. The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as plunging oil and gas prices, fueled anti-drilling sentiment.
Obama’s decision not to allow drilling in the Atlantic Ocean burnishes his environmental legacy and bolsters his push to reduce greenhouse gases that impact climate change.
“President Obama is walking the walk towards a renewable energy future,” said Greenpeace Executive Director Annie Leonard.
Energy industry officials are disappointed with the decision and said it would likely impact the presidential race.
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