One of the many environmental topics I find myself returning to frequently due to ongoing changes is the status of drilling for oil in Arctic regions. At times it seems like it’s a battle to delay the inevitable but opening up more and more potential oil fields only precludes us as a society from hastening our investment to and commitment toward renewable sources of energy. Therefore news that Shell have announced that they will not be conducting exploratory drilling in the waters off Alaska this year must be seen as a piece of good news if perhaps temporary.

The decision was made after a ruling last month by the US government to revoke federal clean air permits that would’ve been needed for drilling ships and support ships in the region. The battle was waged by lawyers supporting environmental groups who challenged the permits that had originally been approved by the EPA for activities in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas respectively. It would be naive to think that Shell will simply give up on the idea however but a temporary stay of execution has been granted to the region. Shell meanwhile said that the decision to lay drilling was a result of “continuous regulatory delays” and that the oil company had spent more than $50 million to secure the EPA permits.

To date Shell have been trying for five years to commence work in the Arctic seas around Alaska against the common backdrop of environmental groups protesting the initiative either through the courts or the media. In opposition to the environmental issues politicians are also pointing out that expansion of the oil industry in the area would bring many jobs and also help secure more stable prices for gasoline. Not for the first time and surely not for the last of the debate between environmental causes and economic impact are wrestling with the decisions of our politicians. Environmental groups will continue to point out that the true impact on the infrastructure of the marine and coastal environment along the Alaskan coast remains unknown in addition to the lack of technology that proves clearing up a potential oil spill in the Arctic can be done successfully.

The oil industry would probably cite the old adage of ‘that battle may be lost but the war can still be won’ and I sincerely hope that they are wrong.