Biden to Permanently Ban Offshore Drilling, Locking in Protections Before Trump's Term

Jan 2, 2025, 05:28 PM

President Joe Biden is preparing to issue a decree permanently banning new offshore oil and gas development in select US coastal waters. The move aims to lock in difficult-to-revoke protections for sensitive marine areas before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. The anticipated executive order would complicate Trump's plan to expand domestic energy production. Biden's action is rooted in a 72-year-old law that grants the White House broad authority to permanently protect US waters from oil and gas leasing, without explicitly empowering successors to revoke the protections.