Judge restores Obama-era drilling ban in Arctic
April 1, 2019 11:40AM AKDT
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – A U.S. judge in Alaska says President Donald Trump exceeded his authority when he reversed a ban on offshore drilling in vast parts of the Arctic Ocean and dozens of canyons in the Atlantic Ocean.
Judge Sharon Gleason in a ruling late Friday threw out Trump’s executive order that overturned the ban implemented by President Barack Obama.
The drilling bans were a key part of Obama’s environmental legacy. Trump reversed them in April 2017.
A message left Saturday for the Department of Justice was not immediately returned.
Gleason said presidents have the power under a federal law to remove certain lands from development, but could not revoke those removals.
