WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is shifting to ban new offshore oil and gasoline drilling in most U.S. coastal waters, a last-minute effort to dam doable actions by the incoming Trump administration to broaden drilling offshore.
Biden, whose time period expires in two weeks, stated he’s utilizing federal Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act authority to guard offshore areas alongside the East and West coasts, the jap Gulf of Mexico and parts of the northern Bering Sea of Alaska from the way forward for oil and pure sources. gasoline rental.
“My choice displays what coastal communities, companies and beachgoers have lengthy recognized: that drilling off these coasts may trigger irreversible harm to the locations we care about and isn’t obligatory to fulfill the vitality wants of our nation,” Biden stated in a press release.
“As the local weather disaster continues to threaten communities throughout the nation and we transition to a clear vitality economic system, now could be the time to guard these coasts for our kids and grandchildren,” he stated.
Biden’s orders wouldn’t cowl giant areas of the Gulf of Mexico, the place most U.S. offshore drilling happens, however would defend coasts alongside California, Florida and different states from future drilling.
Biden’s actions, which defend greater than 625 million acres of federal waters, might be troublesome for President-elect Donald Trump to resolve, as they might possible require an act of Congress to repeal. Trump himself has a sophisticated historical past in offshore drilling. He signed a memorandum in 2020 directing the Secretary of the Interior to ban drilling in waters off each coasts of Florida and off the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina till 2032.
The motion got here after Trump initially moved to dramatically broaden offshore drilling, earlier than retreating amid widespread opposition in Florida and different coastal states.
Trump has vowed to determine what he calls American “vitality dominance” on this planet in a bid to spice up oil and gasoline drilling within the United States and transfer away from Biden’s concentrate on local weather change.
Environmental advocates welcomed Biden’s motion, saying new oil and gasoline drilling should be dramatically curtailed to cut back greenhouse gasoline emissions that contribute to international warming. 2024 was the warmest in recorded historical past.
“This is an epic ocean victory!” stated Joseph Gordon, marketing campaign director for the environmental group Oceana.
Gordon thanked Biden “for listening to the voices of coastal communities” who oppose drilling and “for contributing to the bipartisan custom of defending our coasts.”
Biden’s actions construct on the legacy of Democratic and Republican presidents to guard coastal waters from offshore drilling, Gordon stated, including that U.S. coastlines are dwelling to tens of hundreds of thousands of Americans and help billions of {dollars} in financial exercise that relies upon by a clear atmosphere, ample wildlife and thriving fisheries.
In balancing the a number of makes use of of America’s oceans, Biden stated it’s clear that the areas he’s retiring from fossil gas use present “comparatively minimal potential” that doesn’t justify doable environmental, public well being and financial dangers that may come up from new leases and drilling.
A Trump spokeswoman mocked Biden, saying: “Joe Biden clearly desires excessive gasoline costs to be his legacy.”
The spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt, referred to as Biden’s motion “a shameful choice meant to take political revenge on the American individuals who gave President Trump the mandate to extend drilling and decrease gasoline costs. Rest assured, Joe Biden will fail and we’ll follow, honey, we’ll follow.
Biden has proposed as many as three oil and gasoline leases within the Gulf of Mexico, however none in Alaska, as he tries to juggle vitality firms in search of extra oil and gasoline manufacturing and environmental activists who need him to close down new ones offshore drilling within the Gulf of Mexico. struggle towards local weather change.
A five-year drilling plan accredited in 2023 consists of proposed offshore gross sales in 2025, 2027 and 2029. The three lease gross sales are the minimal the Democratic administration may legally provide if it desires to proceed increasing offshore wind growth.
Under the phrases of a 2022 local weather regulation, the federal government should provide at the least 60 million acres (24.2 million hectares) of offshore oil and gasoline leases in a one-year interval earlier than it might probably provide offshore wind leases .
Biden, whose choice to approve the massive Willow oil mission in Alaska drew sturdy condemnation from environmental teams, has beforehand restricted offshore drilling in different areas of Alaska and the Arctic Ocean.
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