Kerry defends Arctic drilling plan

Secretary of State John Kerry is defending the Obama administration’s approval of an oil drilling expedition in the Arctic Ocean. 

Royal Dutch Shell is exploring for oil in the Arctic on leases it purchased before President Obama was in office, Kerry said in an interview with The Huffington Post.

He said the oil that could come from the Arctic is “cleaner oil than others,” alluding to sources like Canada’s tar sands, which requires a lot of energy to make it ready for consumption.”

{mosads}It will take “20, 30, 40 years” to switch to non-carbon sources of energy, Kerry said, and in the meantime he would prefer using American oil to meet the demand rather than foreign sources. 

“Shell and other companies are going to be drilling somewhere over the course of these next years, because we’re not going to suddenly be weaned from oil,” he said.

But, “I think in the long run, we have to wean ourselves from a carbon-based economy,” Kerry said. 

“We absolutely have to. We have to do it much faster than we are right now. I think the president understands that, I understand that. We’re advocating as powerfully as we can.”

Kerry’s comments largely echo what Obama has said about his administration’s decision to approve Shell’s exploration plan in the Chukchi Sea off the northwestern coast of Alaska. The administration has also looked to highlight the safety precautions it’s taking as Shell looks for oil there. 

Environmentalists have blasted the administration for allowing Arctic drilling to move forward, saying it risks a spill in the region and arguing the oil needs to stay underground in order to slow climate change.