By Valerie Volcovici

WASHINGTON, March 15 (Reuters) – The Obama administration reversed course on Tuesday on a proposal to open the southeastern Atlantic coast to drilling as an oil worth hunch and robust opposition in coastal communities raised doubts concerning the plan.

Besides market and environmental issues, the U.S. Interior Department mentioned it additionally primarily based its determination on conflicts with competing business and army ocean makes use of.

The determination, which is certain to reverberate within the presidential election marketing campaign, reverses a January 2015 proposal for brand new leases within the Atlantic as a part of the division’s five-year plan to set new boundaries for oil growth in federal waters via 2022.

“We heard from many corners that now is not the time to offer oil and gas leasing off the Atlantic coast,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewell mentioned.

“When you factor in conflicts with national defense, economic activities such as fishing and tourism, and opposition from many local communities, it simply doesn’t make sense to move forward with any lease sales in the coming five years.”

Hillary Clinton, the front-runner within the race for the Democratic Party’s nomination to run within the Nov. 8 presidential election, has moved to the left on setting below stress from inexperienced teams. She tweeted: “Relieved Atlantic drilling is now off the table. Time to do the next right thing and protect the Arctic, too.”

Donald Trump, the businessman and former actuality TV persona who’s the Republican front-runner, has raised questions on whether or not extra offshore drilling is important given the abundance of onshore shale manufacturing.

The proposal would have opened up drilling websites greater than 50 miles off Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia to grease drilling by 2021.

Coastal communities in these states protested the administration’s plan, fearing the potential of an oil spill just like the BP Horizon accident in 2010 on the U.S. Gulf Coast, and its results on tourism and their economies.

“With this decision coastal communities have won a ‘David vs. Goliath’ fight against the richest companies on the planet, and that is a cause for tremendous optimism for the well-being of future generations,” mentioned Jacqueline Savitz, environmental group Oceana’s vice chairman for U.S. oceans.

Virginia officers had welcomed the preliminary plan to permit offshore drilling, saying it will convey financial advantages. On Tuesday, Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia, mentioned he was stunned that the Department of Defense had raised issues about naval installations, one in all which is off the state’s coast.

“The DOD has been relatively quiet during this public debate and has never shared their objections with me before,” he mentioned.

OBJECTIONS

Major oil firms, together with Exxon Mobil Corp, Shell and Chevron, had pushed for an open Atlantic.

Shell Oil Company spokeswoman Natalie Mazey mentioned the choice was “short sighted” and would “jeopardize the abundance of affordable domestic energy the economy has become dependent on.”

The American Petroleum Institute mentioned the choice goes in opposition to the desire of voters, governors and members of Congress who help extra growth.

“The decision appeases extremists who seek to stop oil and natural gas production which would increase the cost of energy for American consumers and close the door for years to creating new jobs, new investments and boosting energy security,” mentioned API President Jack Gerard.

The Interior Department additionally introduced Tuesday that it will consider 13 different potential lease gross sales in different areas of the nation – 10 within the Gulf of Mexico and three off the coast of Alaska.

“The proposal focuses potential lease sales in areas with the highest resource potential, greatest industry interest, and established infrastructure,” Jewell mentioned.

The Interior Department mentioned that within the Gulf, useful resource potential and trade curiosity are excessive and infrastructure already exists.

It proposes two annual lease gross sales that embrace the Western, Central, and a part of the japanese Gulf of Mexico not topic to the present congressional moratorium.

It additionally features a potential sale every within the Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, and Cook Inlet planning areas in Alaska. The division would take feedback on different choices, together with an alternate that features no new leasing.

CONCERNS ABOUT ARCTIC

While inexperienced teams praised the choice to maintain the Atlantic off limits for now, they raised issues that the United States would maintain the door open for drilling within the weak U.S. Arctic.

“The administration must take Arctic leases out of the final five-year plan,” mentioned Cindy Shogan, govt director of the Alaska Wilderness League. “No place has potentially more to lose due to climate change than the Arctic.”

The Interior Department will open the five-year proposal to a 90-day remark interval. (Reporting by Valerie Volcovici, further reporting by Timothy Gardner and Ernest Scheyder in Houston; modifying by Cynthia Osterman and Grant McCool)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016.