It approved Shell's oil spill response plan for the Arctic waters of the Beaufort Sea.

"There is no viable way to clean up an oil spill in the extreme conditions of America's Arctic Ocean, yet the Obama administration continues to give the green light to Shell Oil's plans for drilling this summer," said Cindy Shogan, Executive Director of the Alaska Wilderness League.

"It's deeply disappointing that President Obama is choosing to ignore the enormous risks of opening the Arctic Ocean to oil drilling," said Miyoko Sakashita, oceans director at the Center for Biological Diversity. "All signs point to environmental disaster if an oil spill were to occur in the harsh Arctic waters – it's just absurd that Shell's unproven response plan got the green light."

An oil spill in the Beaufort Sea would affect Canada.

On the same day the Obama administration also allowed seismic exploratory surveys for oil off the coast of Virginia in the Atlantic Ocean. In addition to the seismic surveys off the east coast paving the way for oil drilling, the surveys themselves will be harmful to marine wildlife.