Obama stays busy on environmental front in final weeks
WASHINGTON — Citing fears of a Donald Trump presidency, environmental groups are urging President Barack Obama to stay busy in his final weeks.
He is listening.
With his days in office numbered, Obama has pushed ahead with several executive actions aimed at protecting the nation’s land, air and water, even as he acknowledges his successor may try to undo the work before the ink is dry. The president has been cheered on by environmental groups and advocates braced for a new uphill fight in the next administration, and criticized by those who say an outgoing president shouldn’t use his final days to stop what they say is the responsible development of the country’s natural resources.
In the three weeks since Trump’s election, the Obama administration has moved to block for several years new oil and gas drilling in the Arctic Ocean, cancelled 25 oil and gas leases in western Colorado and halted new mining claims on 30,000 acres near Yellowstone National Park.