Departing President Joe Biden is expected to permanently ban new oil and gas drilling in large sections of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, in a move designed to foil the ambitions of President-elect Donald Trump to make the U.S. entirely self-sufficient in energy supplies.
The New York Times reports Biden intends to invoke an obscure provision of a 1953 law, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, that would give him wide latitude to withdraw federal waters from future oil and gas leasing and choke off the prospect of any further exploration for the essential energy supplies.
The outlet made the claim via attribution to unnamed sources. The NYT spelt out exactly what is at stake for both men behind an order that could come as soon as Monday:
The ban would be a significant victory for environmental advocates who have long argued that new drilling is inconsistent with the need to sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions from burning oil and gas that are dangerously warming the planet. The year that just ended was the hottest in recorded history.
The move would also cement Mr. Biden’s legacy on climate change as he prepares to leave the White House after a single term. 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 and burn more coal, oil and gas.
The NYT report added further detail by noting while section 12(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act gives a president wide leeway to bar drilling, it does not include language that would allow Trump or any future president to revoke a ban.
The intended ban was first reported by Bloomberg.
The move comes after Trump’s transition transition team is reportedly 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.
Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s White House incoming 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 NYT.
