President Joe Biden is moving to ban new offshore oil and gas drilling in most U.S. coastal waters, a last-minute effort to block potential action by the incoming Trump administration to expand offshore drilling.
Biden, whose term ends in two weeks, said he would seek federal protections to protect offshore areas along the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and parts of Alaska’s northern Bering Sea from future oil and natural gas exploration. are exercising rights under the Continental Shelf Lands Act. Gas leasing.
Biden said in a statement, “My decision reflects what coastal communities, businesses and beachgoers have long known: Drilling on these coasts can cause irreversible damage to the places we hold dear and It is unnecessary to meet our country’s energy needs.”
“As the climate crisis continues to threaten communities across the country and we move toward a clean energy economy, now is the time to protect these coasts for our children and grandchildren,” he said.
Biden’s order would not affect large parts of the Gulf of Mexico, where most U.S. offshore drilling occurs, but it would protect coastlines along California, Florida and other states from future drilling.
Biden’s actions, which protect more than 625 million acres of federal waters, could be difficult for President-elect Donald Trump to repeal, as they would require an act of Congress to repeal. Trump himself has a complicated history on offshore drilling. He signed a memorandum in 2020 directing the Secretary of the Interior to ban drilling in waters off both the coasts of Florida and the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina by 2032.
The action came after Trump initially proposed expanding offshore drilling on a large scale, before backing off amid widespread protests in Florida and other coastal states.
Trump has vowed to establish American “energy dominance” around the world as he seeks to boost American oil and gas drilling and move away from Biden’s focus on climate change.
Environmental advocates praised Biden’s action, saying new oil and gas drilling should be sharply curtailed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. 2024 was the hottest year in recorded history.
Joseph Gordon, campaign director for environmental group Oceana, said, “This is an epic ocean victory!”
Gordon thanked Biden for “listening to the voices of coastal communities” who oppose drilling and “contributing to the bipartisan tradition of protecting our coasts.”
Biden’s actions build on the legacy of Democratic and Republican presidents to protect coastal waters from offshore drilling, Gordon said, adding that U.S. coastlines are home to millions of Americans and support billions of dollars of economic activity that depends on a clean environment. Depend. Wildlife and rich fisheries.
In balancing the multiple uses of America’s oceans, Biden said it is clear that the areas he is moving away from fossil fuel use show “relatively minimal potential” given the potential that could come from new leasing and drilling. Do not justify the environmental, public health and economic risks.
A Trump spokesperson mocked Biden, saying, “Joe Biden clearly wants to make high gas prices his legacy.”
Spokeswoman Carolyn Levitt called Biden’s action “a disgraceful decision designed to take political revenge on the American people who gave President Trump a mandate to increase drilling and lower gas prices.” Rest assured, Joe Biden will fail, and we will drill, baby, drill.”
Biden has proposed three oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico, but none in Alaska, as he tries to navigate between energy companies that want more oil and gas production and environmental activists who want less. That should stop new offshore drilling. The fight against climate change.
The five-year drilling plan approved in 2023 includes proposed offshore sales in 2025, 2027 and 2029. Three lease sales is the minimum number the Democratic administration can legally offer if it wants to continue expanding offshore wind development.
Under the terms of the 2022 climate law, the government would have to offer at least 60 million acres (24.2 million hectares) of offshore oil and gas leases in any one-year period before it can offer offshore wind leases.
Biden, whose decision to approve the giant Willow oil project in Alaska was strongly criticized by environmental groups, has previously limited offshore drilling in Alaska and other areas of the Arctic Ocean.