President Joe Biden is expected to use a provision in a 1953 law to permanently ban new offshore drilling for oil and natural gas in large sections of the Atlantic and Pacific, as well as other federal waters, in a way that would make it difficult for the incoming Trump administration could undo.
Biden as early as Monday will invoke an obscure provision in the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act that would give him wide latitude to withdraw federal waters from future oil and gas leasing, The New York Times reported Thursday, citing two people familiar with the plans who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the policy publicly.
President-elect Donald J. Trump has pledged to reverse virtually every law and regulation aimed at curbing carbon dioxide emissions and to make it easier for companies to produce more coal, oil, and natural gas. His transition team reportedly is drafting a wide-ranging energy package to roll out within days of him taking office on Jan. 20 that would approve export permits for new liquefied natural gas projects and increase oil drilling off the U.S. coast and on federal lands.
Although Section 12(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act gives a president wide latitude to bar drilling, it does not include language that would allow Trump or any future president to revoke a ban, according to the Times. In 2019, during Trump's first administration, U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason in Alaska ruled that the Obama administration's ban on offshore drilling in parts of the Arctic Ocean and canyons in the Atlantic could not be undone without an act of Congress.
Biden intends to permanently protect a stretch of coastal waters from North Carolina to Florida, the Times reported. During his first term, Trump used the act to impose a 10-year moratorium on oil and gas exploration in that region.
Karoline Leavitt, who will be Trump's White House press secretary, accused the Biden administration of waging a "war on American energy."
"When he takes office, President Trump will make America energy-dominant again, protect our energy jobs, and bring down the cost of living for working families," Leavitt said in a statement to the Times.
Joseph Gordon, campaign director for climate and energy at Oceana, a liberal conservation group, noted that Republican lawmakers in many coastal states have sought to protect their coastlines from drilling, and held out the possibility there could be bipartisan support for Biden's order.
"Our coastlines are home to millions of Americans and support billions of dollars of economic activity that depend on a healthy coast, abundant wildlife, and thriving fisheries," he told the Times.
Dustin Myers, senior vice president of policy at the American Petroleum Institute, which represents U.S. oil and gas companies, said in a statement to the Times that voters in November "clearly rejected this misguided approach."
Oil and gas companies "look forward to working with the incoming administration to bring the benefits offshore oil and natural gas production provides to the United States through jobs, investment and domestic energy security," he said.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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