The executive order prohibits offshore drilling in large areas of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
President Joe Biden on Jan. 6 said he is banning new oil and gas drilling in more than 625 million acres of U.S. ocean, including the Atlantic Ocean off the East Coast and the Pacific Ocean off the West Coast.
Biden’s order, issued using authority from the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, also applies to portions of the Northern Bering Sea in Alaska and the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the White House said.
The president said that the areas he is withdrawing from fossil fuel use show “relatively minimal potential” that does not justify possible environmental, public health, and economic risks that would come from new leasing and drilling.
“I am taking action to protect the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea from oil and natural gas drilling and the harm it can cause. My decision reflects what coastal communities, businesses, and beachgoers have known for a long time: that drilling off these coasts could cause irreversible damage to places we hold dear and is unnecessary to meet our nation’s energy needs. It is not worth the risks,” Biden, who is set to leave office on Jan. 20, said in a statement.
“As the climate crisis continues to threaten communities across the country and we are transitioning to a clean energy economy, now is the time to protect these coasts for our children and grandchildren.”
The ban on future oil and natural gas leasing has no expiration date.
A spokeswoman for President-elect Donald Trump said that Biden’s move was “a disgraceful decision“ at odds with the mandate given by the American people to President Trump to increase drilling and lower gas prices. She added, ”Rest assured, Joe Biden will fail, and we will drill, baby, drill.”
