President Obama's term will officially be coming to a close in January, but before that has a chance to occur, he has made sure to do some things that will leave lasting impressions. One of the greatest feats he has accomplished recently is using the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to protect large portions of the Chukchi and Beaufort seas in the Arctic from oil drilling. Over the years, despite efforts to find other alternative energy sources, greedy people have continued to try to drill for oil to use as a nonrenewable energy resource; consequently, it has had some extremely detrimental effects on the environment due to toxic spills. Past spills have been bad enough to try to clean up, but the Arctic is even more of a fragile environment and the fact that oil companies are ravenously waiting to dig their claws into the untouched reserves of the Arctic is terrifying, to say the least. There are so many diverse, interesting creatures in the Arctic, like whales, narwhals, seals, and polar bears, whose populations could easily be diminished or completely wiped out if today's generation does not make enough of an effort to protect them.
The Arctic is already suffering from our fossil fuel habit and while many continue to turn a blind eye to the issue of global warming, the people living there see the impacts every day; therefore, they cannot continue to be ignorant when they see the major loss of sea ice, and huge changes in animal abundance and behavior.
Additionally, oil spills in the Arctic would cause irreparable damage that would be nearly impossible, if not impossible, to clean up. Shell's last attempt to drill in the Chukchi Sea showed that oil companies are still unprepared to drill in the Arctic because they cannot properly clean up after themselves. In 2016, it will have had been about 27 years since the Exxon-Valdez ran aground, and oil can still be found on south central Alaskan beaches. The risks extend beyond a devastating oil spill that would jeopardize Native wildlife and communities however, because tapping into and burning oil from the Arctic Ocean will pump dangerous amounts of carbon pollution into the air, worsening climate change.
Thankfully, people seem to be starting to realize just how bad things could be for such a frangible ecosystem as the Arctic. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has joined Obama in making similar steps to protect parts of the Arctic, and together the U.S. and Canada are working to preserve this delicate yet unforgiving environment.
Many people question if the positive environmental changes will actually last, but officials have said that the withdrawals under the 1953 act cannot be undone by an incoming president. According to officials, the land and animals should be protected indefinitely under the law, which allows many to breathe a sigh of relief. However, the fighting for environmental rights is not over yet, as oil companies are especially greedy. We as individuals must continue fighting to make sure that our only home planet remains pristine and protected for future little kids and baby polar bears alike to enjoy!
