President Joe Biden has taken steps to shield 625 million acres of offshore regions from prospective oil and gas extraction, as announced by the White House on Monday. This initiative may hinder the plans of the forthcoming administration under Donald Trump.
Biden is applying the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) to halt new fossil fuel operations along the U.S. East and West coasts, in addition to areas in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s North Bering Sea.
The legislation grants presidents the authority to permanently withdraw sections of the Outer Continental Shelf from new oil and gas leasing; however, it does not specify how a succeeding president could reverse this decision. Consequently, Trump may need to seek congressional approval to amend the law before he can annul Biden’s directive.
Biden’s action, which could complicate Trump’s intentions to swiftly escalate fossil fuel production following his return to office this month, has drawn criticism from Trump’s incoming press secretary.
“This is a disgraceful decision intended to retaliate politically against the American citizens who empowered President Trump to expand drilling and reduce gas prices,” Karoline Leavitt stated in a message on X. “Rest assured, Joe Biden will not succeed, and we will drill, baby, drill.”
In his statement, President Biden indicated that drilling in the regions he aims to safeguard “could lead to irreversible harm to cherished places and is not needed to satisfy our country’s energy requirements.”
“The risks are not worth taking,” Biden remarked. “Given the ongoing climate crisis impacting communities nationwide and our transition towards a clean energy economy, now is the time to protect these shorelines for future generations.”
Mike Sommers, president of the oil and gas sector organization American Petroleum Institute, asserted in a statement that the decision by the Biden Administration is “politically driven.”
“Congress and the new administration should fully utilize the nation’s abundant offshore resources as a vital source of affordable energy, government revenue, and global stability,” Sommers stated. “We encourage policymakers to employ every means available to reverse this politically charged decision and reinstate a pro-American energy strategy for federal leasing.”
Biden emphasized the bipartisan consensus that has emerged in favor of safeguarding specific areas from drilling in his announcement.
“From California to Florida, Governors from both parties, Congress members, and coastal communities have collaborated and advocated for enhanced protection of our oceans and shorelines from the threats posed by offshore oil and natural gas drilling,” Biden noted.
