Biden Attempts to Derail Trump's Energy Agenda with 'Permanent Ban' on Offshore Drilling
Joe Biden is set to issue an executive order that could block offshore oil and gas drilling in key U.S. coastal waters, a major obstacle to President-elect Donald Trump‘s energy agenda.
The decree draws its authority from the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which grants broad powers to protect marine areas from oil and gas leasing.
The 72-year-old law does not explicitly allow future presidents to reverse such protections, which could create legal complications for the incoming Trump administration.
“18 days before it’s obviously repealed?” one X user quipped following the news.
“What a small and petty man.”
White House sources familiar with the decision suggested that the protected areas will target regions crucial for coastal resilience.
Discussions for the ban have centred on Pacific waters near California and eastern Gulf of Mexico waters adjacent to Florida.
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The news comes amid intense lobbying from Democratic lawmakers and environmental organizations, who have mounted pressure on Biden to maximize permanent protections against offshore drilling.
According to the groups, the measures are vital for protecting coastal communities from oil spills and tackling climate change.
Earlier this week, the Biden administration proposed blocking new oil, gas, and geothermal leases in Nevada’s Ruby Mountains.
However, Trump is expected to challenge these restrictions after his inauguration.
Such leal challenges are nothing new.
In 2019, a federal district court struck down Trump’s attempt to revoke President Obama’s protection of 125 million acres in the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans.
Similarly, in the final weeks of his 2020 presidential campaign, Trump utilized the same statute to prohibit oil and gas leasing near Florida and North Carolina, which highlighted the law’s bipartisan application.
The Gulf of Mexico’s significance in U.S. energy production also highlights the stakes of this decision.
The region’s production volume would rank among the world’s top 12 oil producers if it were an independent nation.
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