President Joe Biden announced an executive action on Monday to ban new oil and natural gas drilling on over 625 million acres of U.S. offshore and coastal waters.
In a statement released Monday by the White House, Biden said, “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.”
Fox News reported that by Biden invoking the 1953 Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, President-elect Donald Trump could face difficulty reversing the executive action. The outlet noted that Congress may be required to take action to reverse Biden’s decision under the upcoming Trump administration.
In Monday’s statement, Biden said that offshore drilling “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 said. “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 president claimed that he has “delivered on the most ambitious climate and conservation agenda in our country’s history” by conserving over 670 million acres of American land and water over the past four years.
READ MORE: Biden admin expected to ban offshore oil drilling ahead of Trump’s 2nd term: Report
“We do not need to choose between protecting the environment and growing our economy, or between keeping our ocean healthy, our coastlines resilient, and the food they produce secure and keeping energy prices low,” Biden wrote. “Those are false choices. Protecting America’s coasts and ocean is the right thing to do, and will help communities and the economy to flourish for generations to come.”
Following Biden’s executive action on Monday, Karoline Leavitt, who has been nominated to serve as Trump’s White House press secretary, released a statement on X, formerly Twitter, saying, “This is a disgraceful decision designed to exact political revenge on the American people who gave President Trump a mandate to increase drilling and lower gas prices. Rest assured, Joe Biden will fail, and we will drill, baby, drill.”
Trump also appeared to reference Biden’s ban against new oil and gas drilling in a Monday post on Truth Social.
“Biden is doing everything possible to make the TRANSITION as difficult as as possible, from Lawfare such as has never been seen before, to costly and ridiculous Executive Orders on the Green New Scam and other money wasting Hoaxes,” Trump said. “Fear not, these ‘Orders’ will all be terminated shortly, and we will become a Nation of Common Sense and Strength. MAGA!!!”
