President Biden introduced an Eleventh-hour government motion on Monday that bans new drilling and additional oil and pure gasoline growth on greater than 625 million acres of U.S. coastal and offshore waters.Â
Biden, whose time period expires in two weeks, stated he’s utilizing authority to guard offshore areas alongside the East and West coasts, the japanese Gulf of Mexico and parts of Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea from future oil and pure gasoline leasing. He invoked the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, that means President-elect Trump might be restricted in his capability to revoke the motion. Congress may must intervene to grant Trump authority to position federal waters again into growth.Â
“My resolution displays what coastal communities, companies, and beachgoers have recognized for a very long time: that drilling off these coasts may trigger irreversible injury to locations we maintain pricey and is pointless to fulfill our nation’s power wants,” Biden stated in an announcement. “It’s not well worth the dangers. Because the local weather disaster continues to threaten communities throughout the nation and we’re transitioning to a clear power financial system, now could be the time to guard these coasts for our kids and grandchildren.”Â
The transfer garnered fast condemnation from Trump’s incoming White Home press secretary, Karoline Leavitt.Â
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President Biden speaks at a reception for brand new Democratic members of Congress within the State Eating Room of the White Home, Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. (AP Photograph/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
“It is a disgraceful resolution designed to precise political revenge on the American individuals who gave President Trump a mandate to extend drilling and decrease gasoline costs. Relaxation assured, Joe Biden will fail, and we are going to drill, child, drill,” Leavitt wrote on X.Â
Biden patted himself on the again for what he categorized as a legacy transfer within the struggle towards local weather change.Â
“From Day One, I’ve delivered on essentially the most bold local weather and conservation agenda in our nation’s historical past. And over the past 4 years, I’ve conserved greater than 670 million acres of America’s lands and waters, greater than every other president in historical past,” Biden stated. “Our nation’s outstanding conservation and restoration progress has been domestically led by Tribes, farmers and ranchers, fishermen, small companies, and outside recreation fans throughout the nation. Collectively, our ‘America the Lovely’ initiative put america on observe to fulfill my bold aim to preserve not less than 30 % of our Nation’s lands and waters by 2030.” Â
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a marketing campaign city corridor on the Higher Philadelphia Expo Middle & Fairgrounds, Oct. 14, 2024, in Oaks, Pa., as moderator South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem listens. (AP Photograph/Alex Brandon, File)
BIDEN MOVING TO BAN OIL AND GAS LEASES FOR 20 YEARS IN NEVADA REGION, JUST WEEKS BEFORE TRUMP INAUGURATION
“We don’t want to decide on between defending the surroundings and rising our financial system, or between retaining our ocean wholesome, our coastlines resilient, and the meals they produce safe and retaining power costs low,” the assertion added. “These are false selections. Defending America’s coasts and ocean is the proper factor to do, and can assist communities and the financial system to flourish for generations to come back.”Â
Ron Neal, the chairman of the Impartial Petroleum Affiliation of America Offshore Committee, additionally slammed Biden’s last-ditch offshore drilling ban as “vital and catastrophic.”Â
“Whereas it might indirectly have an effect on the at the moment energetic manufacturing areas within the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and adjoining coastal areas, it represents a significant assault on the oil and pure gasoline trade. This ought to be seen because the ‘elephant’s nostril underneath the tent.’ The ban severely limits potential for exploration and growth in new areas subsequently chocking the long-term survivability of the trade,” Neal, additionally the President of Houston Power LP and CEO of HEQ Deepwater, stated in an announcement. “This transfer is a primary step in the direction of extra intensive restrictions all throughout our trade in all U.S. basins together with the onshore. If the activists come for something, they’re coming for the whole lot. The coverage is catastrophic for the event of latest areas for oil and pure gasoline however, the environmentalists will ultimately look to additionally shut down offshore wind farms for many of the identical causes. President Biden and his allies proceed to push anti-energy insurance policies that can harm Individuals.”Â
Offshore petroleum drilling rig within the Gulf of Mexico. (Ron Buskirk/UCG/Common Pictures Group through Getty Pictures)
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Trump, throughout his 2024 marketing campaign, promised to ship American “power dominance” on the world stage as he seemed towards bolstering U.S. oil and gasoline drilling, in addition to distance from Biden’s prioritization of local weather change initiatives.
