Incumbent US President Joe Biden may ban drilling for oil and gas in most coastlines of the country ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration day on January 20, Reuters reported.
The decision by Biden would be difficult for Trump to reverse even as the Republican has promised to increase oil and gas production in the US.
On Monday, the White House reportedly said that Biden would use his authority under the 70-year-old Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to ban drilling across the federal waters.
These would include the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and parts of the northern Bering Sea in Alaska. According to the Reuters report, the ban would impact 253 million hectares of ocean across these regions.
The incumbent President said that his decisions would be in line to protect 30% of federal waters and land by 2030.
During his tenure as President of the US, Biden had signed into several climate regulations.
Trump who won the US 2024 presidential elections in November has been stated to roll back the climate regulations signed over the last four years.
Biden said in a statement on Monday:
My decision reflects what coastal communities, businesses, and beachgoers have known for a long time: that drilling off these coasts could cause irreversible damage to places we hold dear and is unnecessary to meet our nation’s energy needs.
“It is not worth the risks.”
Trump is pro oil and gas
Trump has been vocal about his support of the US oil and gas industry. He is likely to roll out a plan to increase drilling on federal lands after taking office at the White House.
The US is the world’s largest producer and consumer of crude oil.
Trump has also picked Chris Wright, the CEO of Liberty Energy to be the next secretary of energy of the US.
Wright is a supporter of the oil and gas industry and has radical views about climate change.
Additionally, the US is already pumping a record amount of crude oil. According to the US Energy Information Administration, oil production in the country is expected to be near a record 13.5 million barrels per day in 2025.
This is slightly higher than the average record amount that the country produced last year, according to the data.
Biden’s decision may be difficult to reverse
If Biden finalises the decision to ban drilling in federal waters, it would be difficult for the President-elect to overturn them.
The US Lands Act allows presidents to withdraw areas from mineral leasing and drilling but does not permit them the legal authority to overturn any such bans, according to a 2019 court ruling, quoted by Reuters.
The ruling came in response to Trump’s desire to reverse the Arctic and Atlantic Ocean withdrawals, which was made by former President Barack Obama at the end of the Republican’s first term.
Trump had also used this law to ban sales of offshore drilling rights in the eastern Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida through 2032.
Biden’s ban will protect the same area without an expiration date, Reuters said.
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