In Alaska, Obama Highlights Climate Change While His Decisions Draw Accusations of 'Hypocrisy'
Environmental groups are outraged over his drilling policies.

by Kate Sheppard, Senior reporter/Environment and energy editor, The Huffington Post
8/31/2015



WASHINGTON -- As President Barack Obama visits Alaska this week, he is facing criticism and outright outrage from environmental advocates who say his focus on climate change while in the region contradicts his administration's decision to allow Shell to drill there.

The administration granted Shell permission to begin exploratory oil and gas drilling in the Chukchi Sea this summer. And Obama plans to put a major emphasis on climate change during his visit to Alaska, the frontline of climate change's effects in the United States. Environmental groups say the mixed messaging from Obama constitutes "climate hypocrisy." The liberal group Credo Action put up a website mocking Obama's visit as his "Mission Accomplished" moment, likening it to George W. Bush's 2003 speech declaring that the U.S. had "prevailed" in Iraq.

"He somehow has made himself believe that you can have this transition to a clean energy economy and take action on climate change, and continue to develop domestic oil and gas," said Marissa Knodel, a climate campaigner at Friends of the Earth. "If you continue to drill and develop these resources, you're going to continue to contribute to the production of greenhouse gases. They're contradictory."

Obama tried to head off this particular line of criticism ahead of his Arctic visit, the first by a sitting president. "Now even as we accelerate this transition, our economy still has to rely on oil and gas," said Obama in his recorded weekly address on Saturday. "As long as that's the case, I believe we should rely more on domestic production than on foreign imports, and we should demand the highest safety standards in the industry -- our own."

....For one, it's not clear exactly how much oil is even up there, let alone how much can be easily accessed. The U.S. Geological Survey estimated in 2008 that there are 90 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil in the entire Arctic Region, and 84 percent of that is offshore. That's enough to provide about three years of oil for the world, according to consumption estimates from the International Energy Agency. The oil in offshore Alaska is only estimated at around 26.6 billion barrels -- or less than a year's supply for the world....

full story~
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/obama-alaska-climate-change_55e4be9be4b0b7a96339f3d5