[ti:Obama Bans Future Oil Leases in Much of Arctic and Atlantic] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]¸ü¶àÌýÁ¦Çë·ÃÎÊ51VOA.COM [00:01.48]President Barack Obama has declared much of U.S. waters in the Arctic Ocean [00:08.00]and some areas in the Atlantic Ocean permanently unavailable to oil and gas drilling. [00:15.76]The Obama administration announced the action as the government of Canada took similar measures. [00:24.16]Canada is placing a temporary ban on new oil and gas leasing [00:31.04]in parts of the Arctic Ocean that it controls. [00:34.81]Obama is using part of a 1953 law to ban leases for oil and gas drilling. [00:43.42]Offshore drilling involves recovering oil or gas below the bottom of the sea. [00:51.33]The law the administration is using says, [00:55.10]"the president of the United States may, from time to time, [00:59.48]withdraw from disposition any of the unleased lands of the outer Continental Shelf." [01:06.73]The Continental Shelf is an area near land where the ocean is not very deep. [01:14.16]Environmental groups hope the move will make it difficult for future presidents to change the ban. [01:22.35]The Obama administration said the ban was an answer to environmental concerns. [01:29.86]These include the importance of the Chukchi and Beaufort seas to native Alaskans, [01:37.12]and the risk that an oil spill presents to the ecosystems there. [01:42.56]Some oil industry officials disagreed with the president's action. [01:48.18]Dan Naatz, of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, [01:54.25]said that the ban would put the U.S. on a path of energy dependence for many years. [02:00.77]He said that the U.S. instead should be a global energy leader. [02:06.58]President-elect Donald Trump has promised to make major changes to how the U.S. produces energy. [02:15.37]He has chosen Cabinet nominees who are strongly opposed [02:20.39]to Obama's environmental and climate change policies. [02:25.14]Trump's election victory has put pressure on environmental groups and businesses [02:31.32]that rely on tourism and fishing. [02:34.48]Trump has said he wants to use all available fuel reserves to reduce energy imports. [02:42.36]Jackie Savitz is a senior vice president at the environmental group Oceana. [02:49.72]She says that the decision will help protect coastal tourism and fishing businesses from offshore drilling. [02:58.76]She says that oil drilling provides smaller profits than supporters promise and can harm coastal life. [03:07.69]What is not clear is how difficult it will be for future presidents to change Obama's decision. [03:16.09]In 2008, President George W. Bush used a legal action to permit drilling on Outer Continental Shelf lands. [03:27.29]However, administration officials have noted that previous "indefinite withdrawals" are still in place. [03:36.52]Lawmakers have had mixed reactions to the move. [03:41.64]Massachusetts Democratic Senator Ed Markey said that President [03:46.76]Obama is putting the interests of millions of Americans ahead of oil companies. [03:52.64]However, Utah Representative and chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources Rob Bishop [04:00.59]says that the president is only trying to please special interest groups. [04:06.09]"This is not a moral calling; it's an abuse of power," he said. [04:12.76]The ban is one of several efforts Obama has made [04:17.30]in recent months to leave an environmental legacy for his presidency. [04:23.04]In August, the Obama administration announced it will increase [04:28.44]the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in Hawaii to 1.5 million square kilometers. [04:38.14]This makes the monument the largest marine protected area in the United States. [04:46.04]I'm Phil Dierking