Newfoundland and Labrador's offshore regulator is taking bids for exploration off the east coast of the island, in an area the federal government recently listed as a marine protected area.

While the area is closed to fishing, it remains open to the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board — and that is not sitting well with the fisheries union president.

"We cannot ask fish harvesters to accept the closure of an area to fishing activity in the name of conservation while continuing to allow oil and gas exploration in that same area," said Fish, Food and Allied Workers president Keith Sullivan in a news release.

"These closures have shut harvesters out while letting oil and gas in."

In December, the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans listed the Northeast Newfoundland Slope — formerly known as Tobin's Point — as a marine refuge, and prohibited all "bottom-contact fishing activities."

The area is home to corals, sponges and fish nurseries, all things the World Wildlife Fund is worried could be destroyed by offshore oil activity.

"We are struggling to understand why Fisheries and Oceans Canada would create a refuge for wildlife in December 2017, only for the Ministry of Natural Resources to sign off of developing oil and gas extraction there four months later," said Megan Leslie, president of WWF Canada.

Leslie questioned if the two federal departments were aware of each other's actions, or if it was "a case of the left hand not knowing what the right is doing."

The exploration decision was also lambasted by Ecology Action Centre, a conservation group based in Halifax.

Susanna Fuller, marine conservation co-ordinator, said environmental organizations worked with fish harvesters and conservation groups to reach an agreement on protecting the area — only to see it be handed over to oil and gas.

"We have generally supported the efforts of DFO to close areas to all bottom fishing through the more efficient mechanism of the Fisheries Act," she said.

"However, we have also been strongly advocating for no industrial activity in any areas that are to going to be counted towards protection targets."

The Northeast Newfoundland Slope area — which totals 46,833 square kilometres — was part of the Liberal government's initiative to designate 10 per cent of Canada's coasts and waters as marine protected areas.

Conservationists raised similar concerns last summer, when draft regulations for a marine protected area off southwestern Newfoundland showed the area was still open for oil and gas activities.

In an email Friday afternoon, the C-NLOPB said it is committed to the protection of environmentally significant and sensitive areas.



 "We will continue to work closely with DFO, other federal and provincial agencies, fishing interest groups, and other stakeholders in this regard."

The offshore board said it will impose restrictions or measures to mitigate against harm in the approval process for oil and gas activities. </s> Newfoundland and Labrador's offshore oil and gas regulator is taking bids for exploration off the island's east coast, in an area the federal government recently listed as a marine-protected area.

While the area is closed to fishing, it remains open to the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) — and that's not sitting well with the president of the fisheries union.

"We cannot ask fish harvesters to accept the closure of an area to fishing activity in the name of conservation while continuing to allow oil and gas exploration in that same area," said Fish, Food and Allied Workers president Keith Sullivan in a news release.

"These closures have shut harvesters out while letting oil and gas in."

In December, the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans listed the Northeast Newfoundland Slope — formerly known as Tobin's Point — as a marine refuge, and prohibited all "bottom-contact fishing activities."

Federal Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc said on Friday that he will "carefully scrutinize any activities in a marine refuge that could potentially cause harm to fish or fish habitat."

Keith Sullivan, president of the Fish, Food and Allied Workers, says the protected area off Newfoundland closed the region for fisheries, but left it open for oil. (CBC )

The area is home to corals, sponges and fish nurseries, all things the World Wildlife Fund is worried could be destroyed by offshore oil activity.

"We are struggling to understand why Fisheries and Oceans Canada would create a refuge for wildlife in December 2017, only for the Ministry of Natural Resources to sign off of developing oil and gas extraction there four months later," said Megan Leslie, president of WWF Canada.

Leslie questioned if the two federal departments were aware of each other's actions; if it was "a case of the left hand not knowing what the right is doing."

The map on the left shows the Northeast Newfoundland Slope protected area. The map on the right shows the same area with the new exploration areas in dark green. (DFO, WWF Canada)

The exploration decision was also lambasted by Ecology Action Centre, a conservation group based in Halifax.

Susanna Fuller, the group's marine conservation co-ordinator, said environmental organizations worked with fish harvesters and conservation groups to reach an agreement on protecting the area — only to see it be handed over to oil and gas.

"We have generally supported the efforts of DFO to close areas to all bottom fishing through the more efficient mechanism of the Fisheries Act," she said.

"However, we have also been strongly advocating for no industrial activity in any areas that are to going to be counted towards protection targets."

Susanna Fuller, marine conservation co-ordinator for the Ecology Action Centre, says her group is against industrial activity in the protected zone. (CBC)

The Northeast Newfoundland Slope area — which totals 46,833 square kilometres — was part of the Liberal government's effort to designate 10 per cent of Canada's coasts and waters as marine-protected areas.

LeBlanc maintained that commitment "is of the utmost importance" to the Liberal government.

Conservationists raised concerns last summer, when draft regulations for a marine-protected area off southwestern Newfoundland showed the area was still open for oil and gas activities.

In an email Friday afternoon, the C-NLOPB said it is committed to the protection of environmentally significant and sensitive areas.

"We will continue to work closely with DFO, other federal and provincial agencies, fishing interest groups, and other stakeholders in this regard."

The board said it will impose restrictions or measures to mitigate against harm in the approval process for oil and gas activities. </s> CALGARY—The federal government announced Tuesday plans to ban offshore oil and gas licensing in the Arctic, citing the need to protect the environment from future energy development, but the move was largely dismissed by industry observers as a weak gesture that won’t harm their interests.

The measure was part of a joint announcement with the U.S., which designated the bulk of its federally controlled waters in the Arctic Ocean and certain areas in the Atlantic Ocean as indefinitely off-limits to future oil and gas leasing.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada’s ban is intended to ensure a sustainable Arctic economy, preserve the region’s ecosystem and prevent future risks associated with offshore oil and gas activity — goals that earned applause from environmental groups such as Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund.

But experts pointed out that there are no drilling plans in the region now, suggesting that the ban is of little consequence.

Michael Byers, a University of British Columbia professor who recently published a book called “Who Owns the Arctic?”, said the only surprise in Ottawa’s announcement is that it provides for a five-year review.

Byers said the move seems to be politically motivated and is designed to show that Trudeau is protecting the environment despite a recent decision to sanction two oil pipelines — the Trans Mountain expansion and Line 3 replacement project.

“Closing the door to Arctic oil and gas helps to position himself on the climate change file by saying that there are limits in terms of the development of new oil and gas fields, therefore drawing a line in the sand from a climate change perspective,” he said.

“There’s no activity taking place in the Canadian Arctic right now, so saying ‘No’ doesn’t require anyone to stop.”

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Last year, Imperial Oil applied to extend the expiry date on its licences to drill in the Beaufort Sea off the Northwest Territories from 2020 to 2028, citing insufficient time to conduct technical work and complete regulatory processes.

Byers said the federal ban means the Imperial licences can simply be allowed to expire, likely without liability for the federal government.

Imperial Oil spokeswoman Killeen Kelly said the company would not speculate on whether it would seek compensation for its licences if they aren’t extended.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday designated the bulk of U.S.-owned waters in the Arctic Ocean and certain areas in the Atlantic Ocean as indefinitely off limits to future oil and gas leasing.

The move helps put some finishing touches on Obama's environmental legacy while also testing President-elect Donald Trump's promise to unleash the nation's untapped energy reserves.

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Environmental groups hope the ban, despite relying on executive powers, will be difficult for future presidents to reverse. The White House said it's confident the president's order will withstand legal challenge and said the language of the statute provides no authority for subsequent presidents to undo permanent withdrawals.

The last Canadian oil well drilled in the Beaufort Sea off the Northwest Territories was completed in 2006 by Devon Canada.

Chris Seasons, who was president of the company at the time, said Tuesday’s decision to close the Arctic to drilling may hurt companies with interests there in the long run, but won’t cause any immediate pain.

“People always like to have the maximum number of options available as technology changes and as views change on the commerciality of some of those resources, but I don’t think it has a big impact on Canadian companies at this juncture,” he said.

“There’s definitely hydrocarbons there. We found about a 200-million-barrel oil pool, but it wasn’t of sufficient scale to be commercial.”

Byers said oil and gas production in the Arctic doesn’t make sense economically or environmentally, estimating that benchmark U.S. oil prices would have to triple to above $150 ($200 Canadian) per barrel to make oil from the region profitable.

He said the extremely short drilling season represents a huge and costly risk for companies that explore there, adding that transportation is a “nightmare.”

Trudeau said Tuesday the ban is intended to ensure a sustainable Arctic economy, protect the region’s ecosystem and prevent future risks associated with offshore oil and gas activity.

He said his government will also encourage the use of energy efficiency measures and renewable power in an effort to reduce reliance on diesel in Northern communities.

In statements, both Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund welcomed the Arctic drilling bans, saying they will help protect endangered species and ecosystems.

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Paul Barnes, Arctic manager for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said in an email the industry remains confident that it can develop offshore oil and gas resources in the Arctic in environmentally responsible ways.

The Canadian and U.S. governments said they are launching processes to identify sustainable shipping lanes throughout Arctic waters, including the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas.

With files from The Associated Press

Read more about: </s> Nova Scotia's lobster season opens on the Eastern Shore in days, but dozens of fishermen stopped prepping for it Thursday to learn about a massive marine protected area proposed for their fishing grounds.

The Eastern Shore Islands, as it's being called, has been declared an area of interest for conservation by the Trudeau government.

It would be the first marine protected area along the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia and includes inshore and coastal waters. It would protect hundreds of islands that create an archipelago running from Clam Harbour to Liscomb.

Many of the 170 fishermen who make their livelihood here are wary.

"The waters here are in natural condition after generations of doing what we're doing," said Peter Connors, a lobster fisherman and president of the Eastern Shore Fisherman's Protective Association.

He was at a consultation between fishermen and officials from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

"We're not getting any assurances, iron-clad assurances, that [we] won't be affected," Connors said.

Thursday's meeting with fishermen at the Sheet Harbour Legion is part of consultations between DFO and various stakeholders, including First Nations.

Marty King, a DFO biologist, offered mild assurances for the fishermen. "We don't anticipate there'll be any significant impact on lobster when we create a marine protected area in the Eastern Shore Islands," he told CBC News.

The question of no-take zones where commercial fishing would be forbidden will not be settled for at least six months, he said.

"We definitely can't tell you how big at this stage and we really can't say for sure there is going to be one," King said.

Tangier lobster fisherman Randy Boutilier scoffs at that. He fully expects areas will be closed to commercial fishing whenever the marine protected area is declared.

"There is going to be a no-take zone because it's been in every other one so far. There will be one here. It could take us out of our livelihood," Boutilier said.

In some ways, the fishermen on the Eastern Shore are guinea pigs: The first to face an marine protected area that could impact an inshore fishery with a no-take zone.

The fleet is small compared to others in Nova Scotia. The fishing districts from Halifax to Digby are 10 times larger.

Canada has committed to protect 20 percent of its oceans by 2020. DFO has not released its master map of planned marine protected areas.

The Trudeau government has rejected calls from Nova Scotia to stop creating any new ones off Nova Scotia. </s> WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday banned new oil and gas drilling in federal waters in the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, in a push to leave his stamp on the environment before Republican Donald Trump takes office next month.

Obama used a 1950s-era law called the Outer Continental Shelf Act that allows presidents to limit areas from mineral leasing and drilling. Environmental groups said that meant Trump's incoming administration would have to go court if it sought to reverse the move.

The ban affects 115 million acres (46.5 million hectares) of federal waters off Alaska in the Chukchi Sea and most of the Beaufort Sea and 3.8 million acres (1.5 million hectares) in the Atlantic from New England to Chesapeake Bay.

Trump, who succeeds Obama on Jan. 20, has said he would expand offshore oil and gas drilling. A recent memo from his energy transition team said his policy could increase production in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, as well as the mid- and south Atlantic.

A Trump representative did not immediately comment on the announcement.

Even if Trump tries to fight the move, few energy companies have expressed a desire to drill anytime soon off the coasts thanks to abundant cheap shale oil in North Dakota and Texas.

Exploratory drilling in the Arctic is expensive and risky. Shell Oil ended its quest to explore in harsh Arctic waters in 2015, after a vessel it was using suffered a gash and environmentalists uncovered a law that limited its drilling.

The American Petroleum Institute oil industry group disagreed about the permanence of the ban and said Trump could likely use a presidential memorandum to lift it.

"We are hopeful the incoming administration will reverse this decision as the nation continues to need a robust strategy for developing offshore and onshore energy," said Erik Milito, API's upstream director.

The White House and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau jointly announced their move to launch "actions ensuring a strong, sustainable and viable Arctic economy and ecosystem."

Obama said in a statement that the joint actions "reflect the scientific assessment that, even with the high safety standards that both our countries have put in place, the risks of an oil spill in this region are significant and our ability to clean up from a spill in the region's harsh conditions is limited."

Canada will designate all Arctic Canadian waters as indefinitely off limits to future offshore Arctic oil and gas licensing, to be reviewed every five years through a climate and marine science-based life-cycle assessment.

The law under which Obama is acting enables a president to withdraw certain areas from leasing or drilling "for any public purpose," such as to limit the impacts of climate change, according to a legal briefing by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Earth Justice.

Under that law, a president is not authorized to "undo" a previous withdrawal, making it more difficult for Trump to target without a lawsuit.

"No president has ever tried to undo a permanent withdrawal of an ocean area from leasing eligibility," said Niel Lawrence, Alaska director and attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The provision has been used by six presidents from both parties over the past 65 years, including to withdraw as much as several hundred million acres at a time, he said.

In 2015, just 0.1 percent of U.S. federal offshore crude production came from the Arctic. At current oil prices, significant production in the Arctic will not occur, according to a Department of Interior analysis.

There is currently no crude oil production in the Canadian Arctic. A number of companies including Chevron Corp, ConocoPhillips and Imperial Oil hold exploration licenses, but all three have put their drilling plans on hold, partly because of weak global oil prices.

On the U.S. Atlantic coast, local groups have opposed offshore drilling and would fight the Trump administration's attempts to open it up.

"The people of the Atlantic coast have refused to allow their way of life to be compromised," said Jacqueline Savitz, senior vice president of Florida-based ocean conservancy group Oceana.

She said the Obama administration move to protect the Atlantic coast was a "smart business decision" since it would protect the lucrative tourism and fishing industries of East Coast communities. (Reporting by Timothy Gardner and Valerie Volcovici; Additional reporting by Andrea Hopkins in Ottawa; Editing by Peter Cooney) </s> WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama moved to solidify his environmental legacy Monday by withdrawing hundreds of millions of acres of federally owned land in the Arctic and Atlantic Ocean from future offshore oil and gas drilling.

Obama used a little-known law called the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to protect large portions of the Chukchi and Beaufort seas in the Arctic and a string of canyons in the Atlantic stretching from Massachusetts to Virginia from oil exploration and the potential for spills.

The announcement by the White House late in the afternoon was coordinated with similar steps being taken by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to shield large areas of that nation's Arctic waters from drilling. Neither measure affects leases already held by oil and gas companies and drilling activity in state waters.

"These actions, and Canada's parallel actions, protect a sensitive and unique ecosystem that is unlike any other region on earth," the White House said in a statement. "They reflect the scientific assessment that, even with the high safety standards that both our countries have put in place, the risks of an oil spill in this region are significant and our ability to clean up from a spill in the region's harsh conditions is limited.

White House officials described their actions to make the areas off limits to future oil and gas exploration and drilling as indefinite. Officials said the withdrawals under Section 12-A of the 1953 act used by presidents dating to Dwight Eisenhower cannot be undone by an incoming president. It is not clear if a Republican-controlled Congress can rescind Obama's action.

"There is a precedent of more than half a century of this authority being utilized by presidents of both parties," a White House aide said. "There is no authority for subsequent presidents to un-withdraw. ... I can't speak to what a future Congress will do."

"The U.S. is not acting alone today. Canada is acting to put an indefinite stop to activity in its waters as well," the aide said. "With Canada, we send a powerful signal and reinforce our commitment to work together."

U.S. and Canadian officials have negotiated for months to reach a joint understanding on how to manage adjacent areas in the ocean in an effort to make the new protections as sweeping and politically durable as possible. Meanwhile, advocacy groups lobbied Obama to ban oil and gas leasing in the Arctic entirely.

Obama already invoked the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to safeguard Alaska's Bristol Bay in 2014, and again last year to protect part of Alaska's Arctic coast. The president has protected 125 million acres in the region in the last two years, according to a fact sheet issued by the White House.

The Beaufort and Chukchi seas are habitat for several species listed as endangered and species that are candidates for the endangered species, including the bowhead whale, fin whale, Pacific walrus and polar bear. Concern for the animals has heightened as the Arctic warms faster than anywhere else in the world and sea ice the bears use to hunt continues to melt.

The underwater canyons protected by the president cover nearly 4 million acres across the Atlantic continental shelf break, "running from Heezen Canyon offshore New England to Norfolk Canyon offshore the Chesapeake Bay," according to a separate fact sheet.

They are widely recognized as major biodiversity hotspots that are critical to fisheries. The canyons provide deep water corals used by a wide array of fish. The area also provides habitat "for . . . deepwater corals, deep diving beaked whales, commercially valuable fishes, and significant numbers of habitat-forming soft and hard corals, sponges, and crabs," the White House said.

The American Petroleum Institute denounced the decision. "The administration's decision to remove key Arctic and Atlantic offshore areas from future leasing consideration ignores congressional intent, our national security, and vital, good-paying job opportunities for our shipyards, unions, and businesses of all types across the country," said Erik Milito, the group's Upstream director.

"Our national security depends on our ability to produce oil and natural gas here in the United States," Milito said. "This proposal would take us in the wrong direction just as we have become world leader in production and refining of oil and natural gas and in reduction of carbon emissions."

Contradicting the White House's statement, Milito said George W. Bush removed previous 12-A withdrawal areas with a memorandum and made all but marine sanctuaries available for leasing. "We are hopeful the incoming administration will reverse this decision as the nation continues to need a robust strategy for developing offshore and onshore energy," he said.

But a wide range of conservation groups hailed the decision. League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski called it "an incredible holiday gift," saying that "an oil spill in these pristine waters would be devastating to the wildlife and people who live in the region."

Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, called it "a historic victory in our fight to save our Arctic and Atlantic waters, marine life, coastal communities and all they support."

Carter Roberts, president and chief executive of the World Wildlife Fund, applauded what he called "a bold decision" that "signals some places are just too important not to protect."

Oil production in the Arctic represents a tenth of one percent of the nation's oil production overall, the White House said. The area is so sensitive and so remote that the economics of exploration is costly.

Shell, which said in September 2015 that it would shelve drilling plans after spending $7 billion and not finding significant amounts of oil, still has one remaining lease in the Chukchi Sea where it drilled a well earlier last year. Shell is also part of a joint venture with Italian oil giant ENI and Spanish firm Repsol in the Beaufort Sea that holds 13 leases.

Shell held other leases in the Beaufort Sea, which the company transferred to the Arctic Slope Regional Corp., a company belonging to the Native Americans in the region.

An earlier plan to allow limited drilling off the Atlantic coast was shelved after state governments along the southern Atlantic coasts - including Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia - expressed worries over the effect on their beaches, tourist industry and environmentally sensitive marsh.

The Navy also objected. The Pentagon provided Interior with a map "that identifies locations . . . areas where the [Defense's] offshore readiness activities are not compatible, partially compatible or minimally impacted by oil and gas activities," department spokesman Matthew Allen said. The map included nearly the entire proposed drilling area.

Live training exercises are conducted off the Atlantic coast, "from unit level training to major joint service and fleet exercises," Allen said in a statement. "These live training events are fundamental to the ability of our airmen, sailors, and marines to attain and sustain the highest levels of military readiness."

The Obama administration eventually closed the Atlantic to drilling for five years.

President-elect Donald Trump could counter Obama's plan with his own five-year plan, but even so it would be years before drilling could start.

The president-elect's authority to undo a permanent prohibition is unclear. But Congress, controlled by Republicans, could move to rescind the withdrawal of federal lands from oil and gas exploration. </s> WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - The Canadian government on Friday directed its National Energy Board (NEB) regulator to conduct a new review of its application to nearly triple the capacity of the Trans Mountain oil pipeline, taking into account the impact of additional marine traffic.

FILE PHOTO: A workman walks past steel pipe to be used in the oil pipeline construction of Kinder Morgan Canada's Trans Mountain Expansion Project at a stockpile site in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada May 29, 2018. REUTERS/Dennis Owen/File Photo

Expansion of the pipeline, which the government bought last month from Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd, has become a political liability for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, ahead of federal and provincial elections next year. Delays have frustrated Albertans, prompting Notley to withdraw from Trudeau’s national plan to curb carbon emissions.

The NEB must report to cabinet within 22 weeks, Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi said in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal last month overturned the Liberal government’s 2016 approval for expanding the pipeline, which runs from Alberta’s oil heartland to the British Columbia coast.

The timeline for the review, stretching to late February 2019, allows the government to potentially restart construction before the expected spring election in Alberta.

Sohi declined to say when construction could resume.

“We are not focused on election cycles. We are focused on what needs to be done right,” he said.

Trans Mountain expansion faces opposition from the British Columbia government, environmental groups and some municipalities and aboriginal communities, who fear the impact of spills and expanding oil production.

Canada’s oil producers say the expanded pipeline is critical to addressing bottlenecks that have led to steeply discounted prices for their crude.

Sohi said the government would appoint a marine adviser to the NEB, and will ask the regulator to consider its actions to protect killer whales. The government will announce shortly whether it will appeal the appellate court’s decision to Canada’s Supreme Court, and how it will consult indigenous people, he said.

The appellate court ruled in August that the NEB wrongly narrowed its review to exclude the impact of additional tanker traffic on marine life. Additionally, Ottawa failed to adequately consult indigenous people as required by law, it ruled.

The Trudeau government appears to be conducting a “box-checking exercise,” given statements by senior government leaders that the project will be built, said Keith Stewart, senior energy strategist at Greenpeace Canada.

Delays in expanding the pipeline are harming Canada’s investment reputation, said Shannon Stubbs, a Conservative member of Parliament.

The Trans Mountain pipeline runs from Edmonton, Alberta, to an export terminal in the Vancouver area. </s> Barack Obama has permanently banned new oil and gas drilling in most US-owned waters in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, a last-ditch effort to lock in environmental protections before he hands over to Donald Trump.

Obama used a 1953 law that allows presidents to block the sale of new offshore drilling and mining rights and makes it difficult for their successors to reverse the decision.

However, Obama’s ban – affecting federal waters off Alaska in the Chukchi Sea and most of the Beaufort Sea and in the Atlantic from New England to Chesapeake Bay – is unprecedented in scale and could be challenged by Trump in court.

The president-elect has vowed to unleash the nation’s untapped energy reserves and exploit fossil fuels. He has previously questioned the science of climate change, threatened to tear up the Paris climate agreement and appointed climate-change deniers in his cabinet.

This has led to a scramble from environmentalists calling on Obama to impose whatever regulations and executive orders he can to protect his climate legacy.

Tuesday’s move came in a joint announcement by Obama and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, who also put a moratorium on new oil and gas leasing in its Arctic waters, subject to periodic review.

Obama, currently on holiday in Hawaii and with only a month left in office, said in a statement: “These actions, and Canada’s parallel actions, protect a sensitive and unique ecosystem that is unlike any other region on earth. They reflect the scientific assessment that, even with the high safety standards that both our countries have put in place, the risks of an oil spill in this region are significant and our ability to clean up from a spill in the region’s harsh conditions is limited.

“By contrast, 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.”

In 2015, just 0.1% of US federal offshore crude production came from the Arctic. A Department of Interior analysis shows that, at current oil prices, significant production in the Arctic will not occur. “That’s why looking forward, we must continue to focus on economic empowerment for Arctic communities beyond this one sector.”

Campaigners welcomed the announcement. Jacqueline Savitz, a senior vice-president at the advocacy group, Oceana, told the Associated Press: “This decision will help protect existing lucrative coastal tourism and fishing businesses from offshore drilling, which promises smaller, short-lived returns and threatens coastal livelihoods.

“The people of the Atlantic coast refused to allow their way of life to be compromised and we commend their hard work making their voices heard in Washington.”

Few energy companies have expressed a wish to drill any time soon off the coasts thanks to abundant cheap shale oil in North Dakota and Texas. Exploratory drilling in the Arctic is costly and risky.

But with Trump in the White House, the obscure law could face a challenge. Dan Naatz of the Independent Petroleum Association of America told the Associated Press: “Instead of building on our nation’s position as a global energy leader, today’s unilateral mandate could put America back on a path of energy dependence for decades to come.”

And Erik Milito, upstream director at the American Petroleum Institute, told Reuters: “We are hopeful the incoming administration will reverse this decision as the nation continues to need a robust strategy for developing offshore and onshore energy.”

Canada will designate all Arctic Canadian waters as indefinitely off limits to future offshore Arctic oil and gas licensing, to be reviewed every five years through a climate and marine science-based life-cycle assessment. </s> President Obama took the "historic step" to ban offshore oil drilling in the Arctic and off the Atlantic coastline, the White House announced Tuesday afternoon.

The action represents a partnership between the United States and Canada "to build a strong Arctic economy, preserve a healthy Arctic ecosystem and protect our fragile Arctic waters, including designating the bulk of our Arctic water and certain areas in the Atlantic Ocean as indefinitely off limits to future oil and gas leasing," the White House said.

The actions, and Canada's parallel actions, reflect the scientific assessment that, "even with the high safety standards that both our countries have put in place, the risks of an oil spill in this region are significant and our ability to clean up from a spill in the region's harsh conditions is limited," the White House said.

"By contrast, 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," according to the statement.

"In 2015, just 0.1 percent of U.S. federal offshore crude production came from the Arctic, and Department of Interior analysis shows that, at current oil prices, significant production in the Arctic will not occur," the statement added. "That's why looking forward, we must continue to focus on economic empowerment for Arctic communities beyond this one sector.

"My administration has proposed and directed unprecedented federal investments in the region, but more must be done – by the federal government, the private sector and philanthropy — to enhance infrastructure and our collective security, such as the acquisition of additional icebreaking capacity, and to lay the groundwork for economic growth in the industries of the future," Obama said.

The administration released a five-year drilling plan last month that withheld federal drilling leases in the Arctic, but many environmental groups said it didn't go far enough.

In his draft proposal, Obama had included drilling in the Atlantic for the first time, but that was removed from the final five-year plan. The energy industry and states have been pressuring the government to open up the Atlantic coast for years.

The move is "deeply frustrating and one that will mean a bleak economic future for Alaska," said Lucas Frances, a spokesman for the Arctic Energy Center, an industry trade group.

"The Arctic Energy Center's research has shown that a significant majority of native and Alaskan people support offshore energy development in the Arctic, in a large measure because of the essential role the industry plays in the region's economy," Frances said. "By designating Arctic waters off limits for energy development, the president has prioritized environmental concerns over the well-being of the American people."

The largest oil trade group in Washington, the American Petroleum Institute, said the decision moves the country in the wrong diection and vowed to press the incoming Trump administration to do away with the ban.

"We are hopeful the incoming administration will reverse this decision as the nation continues to need a robust strategy for developing offshore and onshore energy," said Erik Milito, the groups's director of upstream investment. "The U.S. offshore industry has a long history of safe operations that have advanced the energy security of our nation and contributed significantly to our nation's economy."

Meanwhile, environmental groups such as the Sierra Club celebrated Obama's decision, saying the ban would help prevent the next administration from harming the environment.

"By removing the Arctic and Atlantic oceans from the five-year plan, President Obama declared that the preservation of our waters from offshore drilling is paramount to protecting our beaches, the climate and coastal economies," said Sierra Club Director Michael Brune. "Today's announcement reaffirms that fact and prevents future administrations from destroying our waters and coastal communities."
Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, invites bids for oil and gas exploration at Northeast Newfoundland Slope, a protected marine area that was closed to fishing in December.