President Biden introduced an Eleventh-hour govt motion on Monday that bans new drilling and additional oil and natural gas development on greater than 625 million acres of U.S. coastal and offshore waters.
Biden, whose time period expires in two weeks, stated he’s the usage of authority to offer protection to offshore spaces alongside the East and West coasts, the japanese Gulf of Mexico and parts of Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea from long run oil and herbal gasoline leasing. He invoked the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which means President-elect Trump might be restricted in his talent to revoke the motion. Congress may wish to intrude to grant Trump authority to position federal waters again into building.
“My resolution displays what coastal communities, companies, and beachgoers have recognized for a very long time: that drilling off those coasts may reason irreversible harm to puts we grasp expensive and is not sensible to satisfy our country’s calories wishes,” Biden stated in a remark. “It’s not definitely worth the dangers. Because the local weather disaster continues to threaten communities around the nation and we’re transitioning to a blank calories financial system, now’s the time to offer protection to those coasts for our kids and grandchildren.”
The transfer garnered fast condemnation from Trump’s incoming White Area press secretary, Karoline Leavitt.
TRUMP PLANNING TO LIFT BIDEN’S LNG PAUSE, INCREASE OIL DRILLING DURING 1ST DAYS IN OFFICE: REPORT

President Biden speaks at a reception for brand new Democratic individuals of Congress within the State Eating Room of the White Area, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Picture/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
“It is a disgraceful resolution designed to actual political revenge at the American individuals who gave President Trump a mandate to extend drilling and decrease gasoline costs. Leisure confident, Joe Biden will fail, and we will be able to drill, child, drill,” Leavitt wrote on X.
Biden patted himself at the again for what he classified as a legacy transfer within the battle against climate change.
“From Day One, I’ve delivered at the maximum formidable local weather and conservation time table in our nation’s historical past. And over the past 4 years, I’ve conserved greater than 670 million acres of The united states’s lands and waters, greater than every other president in historical past,” Biden stated. “Our nation’s outstanding conservation and recovery growth has been in the community led by way of Tribes, farmers and ranchers, fishermen, small companies, and out of doors sport fans around the nation. In combination, our ‘The united states the Gorgeous’ initiative put america on the right track to satisfy my formidable objective to preserve no less than 30 p.c of our Country’s lands and waters by way of 2030.”

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a marketing campaign the town corridor on the Larger Philadelphia Expo Heart & Fairgrounds, Oct. 14, 2024, in Oaks, Pa., as moderator South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem listens. (AP Picture/Alex Brandon, Report)
“We don’t have to choose from protective the surroundings and rising our financial system, or between conserving our ocean wholesome, our coastlines resilient, and the meals they produce protected and conserving calories costs low,” the remark added. “The ones are false possible choices. Protective The united states’s coasts and ocean is the appropriate factor to do, and can lend a hand communities and the financial system to flourish for generations to return.”
Ron Neal, the chairman of the Unbiased Petroleum Affiliation of The united states Offshore Committee, additionally slammed Biden’s last-ditch offshore drilling ban as “vital and catastrophic.”
“Whilst it should indirectly have an effect on the lately lively manufacturing spaces within the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and adjacent coastal spaces, it represents a significant assault at the oil and herbal gasoline business. This must be noticed because the ‘elephant’s nostril underneath the tent.’ The ban critically limits attainable for exploration and building in new spaces subsequently chocking the long-term survivability of the business,” Neal, additionally the President of Houston Power LP and CEO of HEQ Deepwater, stated in a remark. “This transfer is a primary step in opposition to extra intensive restrictions all throughout our business in all U.S. basins together with the onshore. If the activists come for the rest, they’re coming for the whole lot. The coverage is catastrophic for the advance of latest spaces for oil and herbal gasoline however, the environmentalists will sooner or later glance to additionally close down offshore wind farms for lots of the similar causes. President Biden and his allies proceed to push anti-energy insurance policies that may harm American citizens.”

Offshore petroleum drilling rig within the Gulf of Mexico. (Ron Buskirk/UCG/Common Pictures Crew by the use of Getty Pictures)
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Trump, right through his 2024 marketing campaign, promised to ship American “energy dominance” at the global degree as he seemed towards bolstering U.S. oil and gasoline drilling, in addition to distance from Biden’s prioritization of local weather alternate projects.