Hillary Clinton breaks with Obama on Arctic oil drilling

US Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton on Tuesday distanced herself from President Barack Obama's fresh approval for offshore drilling in the Arctic.

"The Arctic is a unique treasure," said Clinton on Twitter. " Given what we know, it's not worth the risk."

Clinton's breakaway from the Obama administration came only one day after Obama gave the oil company Shell the green light to drill for oil off Alaska's coast, and was so far Clinton's clearest disagreement with the Obama administration's agendas.

Earlier this year, Clinton refused to take a stand on either the proposed Keystone Xl oil pipeline or the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and her statement on Tuesday came at a time when she was struggling with the lukewarm support from the progressive wing within her own party.

After she staked out her opposition to Arctic drilling, Republican presidential candidates immediately issued their accusations, with former Florida Governor Jeb Bush bashing Clinton as "Being more-anti energy than Obama is extreme."

Bush said energy revolution should be embraced to lower prices and create jobs at home.

As the country is embracing itself for another presidential election in the coming year, Arctic drilling is believed to be a contentious issue as more Arctic sales are slated for 2016 and 2017.

Environmentalists have long opposed the Arctic drilling, fearing that any oil spill would cause irrevocable damages to the local eco-system.
  Source:Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
19/8/15
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• Η μάχη για την Αρκτική ξεκίνησε/ The Battle for the Arctic

• Russia dispatches naval force to reopen Arctic base

• US gives Shell approval to drill for oil in Arctic

U.S. government on Monday granted approval to Royal Dutch Shell to drill for oil and natural gas in the Arctic Ocean, which has escalated a battle with environmentalists.

Shell, the Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company, has been given a permit to conduct exploratory drilling activities into oil-bearing zones offshore Alaska at one of its two wells at the Burger Prospect, said Brian Salerno, director of Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) with the Department of the Interior.

In late July, the oil giant received BSEE's conditional approval to conduct limited exploratory drilling activities at the two wells, which banned the company from drilling deeper into oil- bearing zones other than the top of such zones, as the company didn't have a particular emergency response vessel on hand, which is now made available in the region.

With the other well, Shell, would still be required to limit its drilling only the top of the oil-bearing zones, the BSEE stressed in a statement.

Also, Shell is not allowed to conduct drilling at the two wells simultaneously.

The approval of Shell's drillings plans has angered environmentalists, who say the Arctic is too sensitive an ecosystem to allow oil drilling and risk a potential spill.
  Xinhua - china.org.cn
  18/8/15
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