President-elect Donald Trump said he plans to immediately reverse President Biden’s new ban on offshore drilling along most of the U.S. coastline, but he faces major obstacles under an irrevocable law 70 years old.
Throughout his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump promised that, if elected, he would expand oil and gas drilling in an effort to bolster U.S.-produced energy.
However, Biden issued an 11-hour executive order Monday morning to prevent such actions exactly two weeks before the end of his term, announcing a permanent halt to most new oil and gas drilling in US coastal and offshore waters. United in an area spanning approximately 625 million acres. .
“It’s ridiculous. I’m going to lift it immediately,” Trump said Monday on the “Hugh Hewitt Show.” “What is he doing?”
Biden pledges to ban oil and gas leasing for 20 years in the Nevada region, just weeks before Trump’s inauguration.
President-elect Donald Trump said he would “lift the ban” on President Biden’s blockade on drilling along the coast. (Sarah Meyssonnier)
“We cannot let this happen to our country,” Trump added. “It’s truly our greatest economic asset.”
The executive order, issued under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), seeks to block future oil and natural gas leasing along the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and parts of the northern Bering Sea, Alaska.
Trump said he “had the right” to reverse such action, but given that Biden issued the order under a 1953 law that allows the president to enact bans on oil and gas development , he couldn’t just reverse that decision.
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In 2019, during Trump’s first term, a federal judge ruled that OCSLA does not allow presidents to overturn bans established by previous administrations. That means Trump would need congressional approval to reverse Biden’s decision.
DCOR LLC’s Edith offshore oil and gas platform, right, and Beta Operating Company LLC’s Eureka oil and gas platform lie in the Beta field off Long Beach, Calif., Tuesday, May 18, 2010 . (Tim Rue)
Biden said his decision stemmed from his efforts to combat climate change — one of dozens of steps under the Democratic president’s green energy agenda.
“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 respond to our nation’s energy needs,” Biden said in a statement. “It’s not worth it. 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.”
Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt also issued a statement criticizing Biden’s order.
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“This is a shameful decision intended as political revenge against 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, let’s drill,” Leavitt said.
Fox