Newswise — President Barack Obama on Tuesday moved to indefinitely block oil and gas drilling on federally owned lands in the Arctic Ocean and Atlantic Ocean under a provision of the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. Canada took similar action. The act gives the president unilateral authority to withdraw parts of the Outer Continental Shelf from leasing, while leaving existing leases in place. Robin K. Craig, a professor at the S.J. Quinney College of Law and acting director of the Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources and Environment, is available to discuss what this move to protect the waters means and whether President-elect Donald J. Trump could reverse the decision once he takes office.

Robin K. Craig | 850-524-6170 | [email protected]