Alaska’s Bristol Bay placed off-limits from oil, gas drilling
President Obama on Tuesday pulled Alaska’s Bristol Bay from consideration for federal oil and gas leases.
As AP reported:
The decision announced Tuesday under the federal Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act means no leases will be sold for petroleum drilling in the area. The bay provides 40 percent of America’s wild seafood and supports up to $2 billion in commercial fishing every year.
Obama said: “These waters are too special and too valuable to auction off to the highest bidder.”
Watch the video the president made announcing the decision.
The area, west of the Alaskan peninsula near the start of the Aleutian Islands, has been the subject of a tug-of-war for drilling for years. President Clinton issued a moratorium on drilling in the bay in 1995, and Congress and the executive branch have wrangled over the region ever since. This site has more on the battle.
