Biden bans offshore oil and gas drilling in most federal waters as Trump vows to reverse trend

President Joe Biden’s long-threatened campaign to ban new offshore oil and gas drilling in most U.S. coastal waters continues in an effort to thwart President-elect Donald Trump’s administration’s promise to expand offshore drilling in the name of America’s energy self-sufficiency. .

Trump has already made it clear that he will immediately reverse Biden’s decision on the first day he takes office.

As Breitbart News reported, Biden, whose term expires in two weeks, claims authority under the federal Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to protect offshore areas along the East and West coasts, of the eastern Gulf of Mexico and parts of Alaska’s northern Bering Sea against future oil. and natural gas rental. He said in a statement:

My decision reflects what coastal communities, businesses and beachgoers have long known: that drilling off these coasts could cause irreversible damage to places we hold dear and that there is no need to address the energy needs of our country.

As the climate crisis continues to threaten communities across the country and we transition to a clean energy economy, now is the time to protect these coasts for our children and grandchildren.

The octogenarian’s hasty actions, which cover more than 625 million acres of federal waters, could be difficult — but not impossible — for Trump to undo, although Biden supporters say a decision would likely require a act of Congress.

AP reports that Trump said Monday he had none of that. After its inauguration on January 20, “this will be changed from day one. I can change it immediately.

“I’m going to lift it immediately,” Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. “I have the right to unblock it.”

He said the United States has “oil and gas at a level that no one else has and we’re going to take advantage of it,” adding of rim drilling: “We can’t let that happen.” to our country.”

“It really is our greatest economic asset,” Trump said.

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