US President Joe Biden speaks during a reception for the new Democratic members of the US Congress in the State Dining Room of the White House on January 5, 2025, in Washington, DC. (File photo: Getty Images via AFP/Kent Nishimura)
By AFP - Agence France Presse
Biden issues major coastal protection ahead of Trump's inauguration
WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden on Monday (January 6) banned offshore drilling in a huge area of coastal waters, weeks before the inauguration of Donald Trump, who promises to massively increase fossil fuel production.
The ban covers the entire Atlantic coast and the eastern Gulf of Mexico, as well as the Pacific coast in California, Oregon, and Washington, and a section of the Bering Sea in Alaska.
A White House statement said the declaration protected more than 253 million hectares of water.
“As the climate crisis continues to threaten communities across the country and we transition to a clean energy economy, now is the time to protect these coastlines for our children and grandchildren,” Biden said in a statement.
“In balancing the many uses and benefits of America's ocean, it is clear to me that the relatively minimal fossil fuel potential in the areas I am withdrawing does not justify the environmental, public health, and economic risks that would come from new leasing and drilling,” he added.
The ban has no end date and could be legally - and politically - difficult for Trump to overturn.
“It's ridiculous. I'm going to repeal the ban immediately... I have the right to repeal the ban immediately,” Trump said shortly after the announcement in a radio interview with a conservative radio host.
Biden is taking the measure by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953, which gives the federal government authority over the exploitation of offshore resources.
However, the law does not expressly provide for presidents to unilaterally reverse a drilling ban without going through Congress.
During his campaign, Trump promised to “unleash” domestic fossil fuel production in an attempt to reduce gas costs, even though the country is already registering record extraction rates.
After US media reported late last week that Biden would issue such a ban, Karoline Leavitt, Trump's new press secretary, called the move “a shameful decision designed to take political revenge on the American people who gave President Trump a mandate to increase drilling and lower gas prices”.
Environmental NGOs, on the other hand, welcomed the decision.
“This is an epic victory for the ocean!” said Joseph Gordon, Oceana's Climate and Energy Director.
“Our precious coastal communities are now protected for future generations,” he said.
“With today's withdrawals, President Biden has now conserved more than 670 million acres of U.S. lands, waters, and oceans - more than any president in history,” the White House said.
The move is the latest in a series of last-minute climate policy actions by the Biden administration ahead of Trump's return to the White House.
In mid-December, the outgoing administration issued an ambitious new climate target under the landmark Paris Agreement, committing the US to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 61% to 66% below 2005 levels by 2035, on the path to achieving net zero by 2050.
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