Biden Moves to Permanently Ban Offshore Oil and Gas Drilling

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Joe Biden is preparing to permanently ban new offshore oil and gas development in key U.S. coastal waters, which will be “difficult to revoke protections for sensitive marine areas.”

This last-ditch effort to block President-elect Donald Trump’s energy agenda is expected to be enshrined in an executive order, marking yet another chapter in Biden’s war on American energy.

Sources familiar with the plan have revealed that Biden’s order will leverage a 72-year-old law—the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act—to solidify protections that are notoriously difficult to reverse, Bloomberg reported.

This decree, set to be issued within days, is aimed at halting new drilling rights in parts of the country’s outer continental shelf, including critical areas near California and the Gulf of Mexico by Florida.

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Biden is set within days to issue the executive order barring the sale of new drilling rights in portions of the country’s outer continental shelf, according to people familiar with the effort who asked not to be named because the decision isn’t public.

The move is certain to complicate President-elect Donald Trump’s ambitions to drive more domestic energy production. Unlike other executive actions that can be easily undone, Biden’s planned declaration is rooted in a 72-year-old law that gives the White House wide discretion to permanently protect US waters from oil and gas leasing without explicitly empowering presidents to revoke the designations.

The move responds to pressure from congressional Democrats and environmental groups who have lobbied Biden to “maximize permanent protections” against offshore drilling, arguing the action is essential to safeguard vulnerable coastal communities, protect marine ecosystems from oil spills and fight climate change.

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