In the final days of his term, President Joe Biden is set to ban new offshore oil and gas developments in some areas of the U.S. coast, a move that would hinder President-elect Donald Trump’s push for more energy production.
Bloomberg reported on Thursday that Biden is expected to issue an executive order “within days” that would prevent the sale of drilling rights in certain areas of the outer continental shelf. Biden’s move to further ban offshore drilling would be based on a 1953 law that gives the president the power to permanently stop offshore oil drilling in U.S. waters without explicitly giving presidents the power to revoke oil drilling bans enacted by their predecessors, according to Bloomberg.
Biden has been pressured by Democrats and left-wing environmentalists to ban more offshore drilling before he leaves office and Trump takes over on January 20. In 2023, Biden severely cut back on how many spots the government leases to oil companies in the Gulf of Mexico, allowing “a maximum of three potential oil and gas lease sales – the fewest oil and gas lease sales in history – in the Gulf of Mexico Program Area scheduled in 2025, 2027 and 2029,” according to the Department of the Interior (DOI).
Biden and his administration officials reportedly intensified efforts to ban more oil and gas drilling after Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in November. Earlier this week, the DOI announced a slate of environmental rules for Nevada’s Ruby Mountains, including banning energy development along a large portion of the range for the next 20 years. The Biden administration also purchased a 640-acre, equivalent to a square mile, parcel of land from Wyoming within the Grand Teton National Park. The purchase also came with permanent environmental bans over the piece of land.
During the 2024 campaign, Trump promised to revamp American energy production, repeatedly saying that under his administration, the U.S. would “drill, baby, drill.” In September, Trump told supporters in Flint, Michigan, that he would seek to cut Americans’ energy costs by 50%, arguing that lowering energy bills is the key to tackling economic hardships.
“We have to start always with energy,” Trump said. “I don’t want to be boring about it, but there’s no bigger subject that covers everything. If you make donuts, if you make cars, whatever you make, energy is a big deal.”
“And it’s my ambition to get your energy bill within 12 months down 50%,” he added. “If I can do that, we’ve done a hell of a job … [and] interest rates are going to follow.”
Tim Pearce contributed to this report.
