No drilling in the Atlantic; decision hailed by environmentalists but denounced by industry

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Obama administration says it has heard the people in Atlantic coastal communities, and will not allow oil drilling in the Atlantic Ocean.

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell says the decision “protects the Atlantic for future generations.”

It reverses a proposal made last year, when the administration floated a plan that would have opened up a broad area of the Atlantic Coast to drilling.

Today’s announcement is being hailed by environmentalists, but condemned by the oil and gas industry, which had pledged that exploration would be done safely with lessons applied from the 2010 BP oil spill.

The president of the American Petroleum Institute says the government’s decision “appeases extremists who seek to stop oil and natural gas production.”

But the vice president of Oceana, an environmental group, says Obama “has taken a giant step for our oceans, for coastal economies and for mitigating climate change.” Jacqueline Savitz calls it “a victory for people over politics.”

Obama, in his final year in office, continues to build an environmental legacy that includes a global agreement to curb climate change and an ambitious plan to reduce carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants.

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