“The Obama administration still plans to issue regulations for oil and natural gas drilling in the Arctic Ocean despite Royal Dutch Shell’s decision to abandon its drilling efforts “for the foreseeable future,” The Hill reports.  

“Brian Salerno, director of the Interior Department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), said regulators are moving forward with their rules, even though drilling is not likely to return to the Arctic for years, or even decades.”  

Said Salerno: “It still matters. It’s not pushed to the back burner. We’re committed to going forward and finalizing the rule.”