Shell announced a few weeks ago that it would be stopping its oil exploration in the Arctic indefinitely, but only now can environmentalists let out a sigh of relief. That’s because The Interior Department has scrapped two lease sales for 2016 and 2017 for oil drilling rights in the Arctic Ocean, a move made by the Obama administration to keep rigs out of Alaska’s northern ocean for the next decade or more. With the Arctic warming up quickly and the chance of a spill likely, the decision to stop drilling will preserve the natural yet fragile coast off Alaska.